


Regression One-Shots!

by firecracker189



Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Age Regression, Daddy!Mark, Diapers, F/M, Gen, Little!Ethan, Little!Jack, Non-Sexual Age Play, Nonsexual Ageplay, Pacifiers, Wetting, bed wetting, daddy!tyler, ethan and jack are the cutest babies, honestly most of these are just gratuitous fluff and im not sorry, literally they're the cutest, prepare yourselves bc you may get cavities from all this fluff, thumb sucking, tyler and mark are amazing daddies, wade and bob are the cool uncles/babysitters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-08
Updated: 2018-10-14
Packaged: 2018-12-25 10:13:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 37
Words: 59,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12033783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/firecracker189/pseuds/firecracker189
Summary: Mark is a good Daddy. Jack's a cuddly baby boy. Ethan is a precocious toddler and Tyler has his hands full.Age Regression One-Shots or Multi-Parts exploring Mark and Jack's Age Regression relationship. Now featuring Little Ethan, Daddy Tyler and Mommy Amy!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Private Property](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9409655) by [GreenLocksRedBlood](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreenLocksRedBlood/pseuds/GreenLocksRedBlood). 



It had been a hard few days, saying goodbye to everyone after PAX, but Jack nonetheless packed up and headed back to Brighton. But as he lay in bed, staring up at the darkness, he felt uncomfortable. Like he didn’t belong in his own skin. He could almost picture Mark’s disapproving frown, and it made him squirm slightly in shame. But the truth was, he hadn’t been little for weeks. Couldn’t make himself do it, felt too ashamed of himself and he knew it wasn’t good to force headspace when it wasn’t going to happen. But he also knew it wasn’t good to suppress headspace when he really needed it. He rolled over and grabbed his phone. It was still early in LA, he could catch Mark just after dinner time his time. He knew Mark usually preferred to FaceTime, but he didn’t really want to turn on the light and his bed was comfy. So Mark was getting a voice call.

“Hey, is everything alright?” Of course right off the bat, knowing his little’s time zone, Mark was in Daddy mode.

Jack shifted uneasily. “I erm, just… wanted to talk,” he ended up saying lamely, nibbling at his thumbnail.

“Get that out of your mouth.” Mark’s voice chided over the miles separating them.

Jack made a little sound that may have been half apology half ‘I’m an adult, I do what I fucking want’, but nonetheless the digit made its way from his mouth.

“So, what did you need to talk about?” Mark’s voice was slightly muffled, maybe he’d gone upstairs or something.

“Um. I….” he sighed and ran a hand through green locks. “I… can’t be little. I’ve tried, but… I just can’t seem to and… it doesn’t feel good. I wanted to, when we were together for PAX, but I couldn’t seem to then, either. It’s like my brain is stuck in adult mode or something, but I know I need to be little and… I just can’t!” he huffed angrily.

Mark made a soft noise of affirmation. “Well, maybe if you turned the light on, Cranky Pants,” he teased softly, “then I could help you out, maybe see if we can’t fix that problem.” His voice was anything but angry as he thoughtfully stared at a shelf of children’s books that sat just inside his closet. The shuffling and sighing he could hear across the line made him smile slightly. His cranky boy needed to age down desperately, and the thought made his heart ache. He just wished he’d known Jack wanted to be little when they were actually together. He could have tugged his squirmy baby onto his lap and cuddled him until he relaxed finally. “I’m gonna swap you to video chat, okay?”

“’kay.” It sounded very resigned and sleepy and it made Mark’s lips turn up the slightest bit.

“Okay. You hold on, alright?” he tapped the button and soon a sleepy and frankly displeased looking Jack filled the screen of his phone. “Hey there, bug.” He greeted softly. “You havin’ trouble getting’ little?” Mark kept his voice soft and soothing, hoping to start that mental process going. At Jack’s distressed nod, he kept speaking. “Well, maybe if Daddy talks you through your special bedtime routine and reads you a story, would that help?”

Jack bit his lip. He hadn’t expected to have such relief instantly wash over him just at seeing Mark’s face and hearing him say those words. He nodded again.

“Alright, baby boy. You just go on over there and pick out some jammies for me, okay?” Another nod and the sound of scurrying feet met his ears as Jack tugged open the drawer that had all his onesies and footed sleepers inside and rummaged around.

“Daddy?” There it was. That’s what he wanted to hear. It was soft, and tentative, like he was barely Little Jack at all, but it was there.

“What, Jackaboo?” he cooed softly, smiling to himself.

“Need help.” Still soft, like Big Jack was waiting beneath the barest hint of surface, ready to be ashamed at himself and withdraw again at the slightest provocation.

“You want Daddy to help you pick them out?” he asked. “Hmm, well, I know a Baby Bug that looks absolutely adorable in his panda onesie.” Mark pretended to muse to himself. More rummaging. Then his baby appeared, fully Little and holding the aforementioned jammies. Half in screen, Jack’s pajamas scraped softly against the mic of his phone as he spoke back up.

“Here they are, Daddy.”

“Good boy, I see that!” Mark enthused, so happy to see the immediate relief of stress (in both of them, he was surprised to note) that Jack finally succumbing to headspace had provided. “Now, listen to me, Jackabear. Listen to Daddy for a minute.” Obediently, a pair of wide blue eyes focused on him. “Good boy. Daddy isn’t there to help you, do you think that you can get into a diaper for him? We don’t want any more wet sheets, do we, baby?” At Jack’s rigorous head nod, he couldn’t help but chuckle softly. God, Mark _loved_ that little boy. “Alright, good boy. You go get changed for me and come back, okay?”

“Kay.”

Mark frowned. That response sounded subdued, and he wasn’t sure why. He made a note to ask the baby about it when he returned to frame. The scuffling he heard had him hoping that there would be no diaper rashes or leaky diapers involved—call him crazy but he didn’t trust the one year old with his own diaper changes really. To entertain himself while Jack got dressed, he swiped through some old photos of the two of them (himself and Little Jack) and smiled softly.

A moment later there was a rustling, and Jack appeared again, cute panda onesie on and the obvious bulk of a diaper between his legs. Mark theoretically crossed his fingers and hoped the baby had done it all right. “Hey, baby boy,” he greeted quietly, and blew his little one a kiss. Jack lethargically caught the kiss and put it to his cheek, a far cry from the usual bouncy baby boy Mark had on his hands. “What’s the matter, hmm?” Mark probed.

Jack picked up his phone and crawled into his bed, rummaging in a bedside drawer before coming back up with his paci and his blankie, nervously cuddling the comfort object.

“Tell Daddy what’s going on in that lil’ green head of yours.”

Jack looked at his paci, like he really wanted to suck on it, but looked from the object to Mark and back, knowing his Daddy expected an answer. Mark watched quietly for several moments while the baby struggled, jaw clenching as he fiddled with his paci. “Don’t like feelin’ like this.” He finally managed, eyes soft and pleading as he looked up to Mark. His eyes filled with tears, lip quivering in the way that always made Mark’s heart melt. Jack hugged his blankie to his chest and sniffled and Mark cooed quietly.

“Baby _boy_ ,” he empathized, hating it had taken until they were apart for Jack to finally go back into headspace. “I know you don’t, but now we know, don’t we? We know not to go this long again without making time, don’t we?”

Jack pouted softly and gave a little whimper, nodding as he swiped his hands over his eyes.

“But don’t cry, honey bear, please don’t cry.” Mark pleaded, as Jack dissolved into desperate sobs. If the daddy had any intuition (and he liked to think he did, thank you very much) then these weren’t tears caused by anything other than exhaustion and Jack having pushed away his little side for so long. They were good because they’d both exhaust and help his little one to get more into headspace.

After several minutes watching his poor sleepy baby struggle, he gave another sympathetic coo. “Jackabug,” he spoke quietly. “I know you’re upset, bud, and I know you feel icky; but Daddy was thinking he’d like to read you a story and maybe see if he could put a smile on that sweet face.”

Jack sniffled uneasily and uncurled slightly with a little huff. Mark’s face creased into a soft smile. “There he is,” he spoke over the soft sound of hiccups on the other end of the video call. “Want a story, Jackaboy?” Jack appeared to consider it for a moment, but quickly decided on the ‘yes’ option (for which Mark was thankful. Better to calm him down now than have things continue and escalate into a sleepy tantrum. That usually ended in a worse off baby boy because his daddy had to be another whole country away and couldn’t hold him when he was done crying). “Which story do you want to hear?”

“Cookie.” It was muffled, because of course the baby had his fingers in his mouth instead of the paci that was right beside him. Mark took a soft breath.

“Fingers out of mouth, please, Jack.” He murmured quietly as he reached over and tugged the much-loved volume of _If You Give A Mouse A Cookie_ from the shelf. It was Jack’s favorite, right up there with _Goodnight Moon_ and _Guess How Much I Love You_. “Use your paci, baby boy,” he reminded, and the baby hummed quietly, grabbing his Septiceye Sam paci Mark had gotten him for his birthday and sticking it in his mouth.

Mark watched as Jack crawled beneath the covers and situated himself expectantly, still scrubbing at his tear filled eyes. Flipping to the first page, he began to read.

“If you give a mouse a cookie, chances are he’s going to want some milk to go with it…”

Jack was out like a light by the third page.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack is visiting for two weeks; Mark is happy to have his baby back under his roof.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to SniperOnTheRoof, this fluff is for you!

Mark heard a soft rustling from out in the hallway, and Chica’s head lifted from off her paws. Across the room on her doggy bed, the retriever’s tail wagged softly as footsteps came near to the door. A soft smile flitted across the man’s face as he feigned sleep, carefully angling himself towards the door. The feet hesitated in their progress, as if the owner was uncertain of their actions, but once Mark stilled they continued their course. Soon, a warm body was pressed up against his chest, fluffy hair tickling his chin and a drool covered pacifier causing the skin of his neck to become slightly damp. He sighed softly and moved to wrap his arms around the warm bundle once it had stopped squirming.

“S’matter, Jackaboy?” he mumbled quietly, as Chica settled once more. The baby had just come into LA a few hours ago, and Mark had gone through his entire bedtime routine in an effort to try and take proactive steps against jet lag. He still knew Jack wouldn’t really be that sleepy, but he wanted to start establishing a sleep schedule for the time he’d be there.

Jack shifted and nosed around until his paci was back in his mouth, hands clenching into the soft tee Mark wore. Mark made a small sound of affirmation.

“Can’t sleep, baby boy? What am I gonna do with you? You had your bath, and your lavender sleepy time lotion, we read three stories, and I sang you a song,” he fake lamented, though he could tell the Little bore him no ill will at the fact. Mark ran a hand through sweet smelling green hair. Jack gave a happy little noise around his paci and snuggled closer. “But, I guess, if it’d fix it… you can sleep with Daddy tonight.” He pronounced. Jack seemed perfectly happy with that. “You just go to sleep, Jackabug,” the Daddy soothed, as he ran his hand through his baby’s hair. “You go right to sleep, and in the morning, we can spend the full day together since Daddy’s all caught up on pre-recording videos.” He murmured through a small yawn. “Daddy can spend all day with his special boy,” Mark’s chest filled with warmth at the way Jack melted into him, and the frankly adorable noises of affirmation his Little was making around his pacifier. “How’s that sound, hmm?” Mark pulled Jack closer and kissed his forehead. Jack gave a happy wiggle and finally began to settle down, one hand removing itself from Mark’s shirt and going to rub the soft fabric of his blankie against one cheek. (The other one stayed firmly clenched into his Daddy’s shirt, because there was no way he was gonna be separated from him after being apart for so long!) “Good boy,” Mark mumbled sleepily, letting his eyes drift shut as he rested his cheek against Jack’s soft hair. Mark couldn’t wait until morning.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mark finds out about Tyler and Ethan. Tyler offers to help tell Jack that they know about him and Mark now, too. Everyone is sleepy and Ethan is a cute cuddly bab. (Part One of Two)

Mark was restless. He tossed and turned and couldn’t seem to find a suitable spot that seemed comfortable to him. So he got up, wandering downstairs to the kitchen. But what met his eyes wasn’t something he expected. Tyler was sitting at the table, Ethan in his lap with a tear streaked face and half lidded eyes. What seemed to be a half empty sippy cup full of milk sat at Tyler’s elbow on the table. He looked up quietly as Mark entered and gave a soft apologetic smile.

“Sorry about that, if he woke you. Ethan here just had a bad dream, didn’t you, buddy?” he addressed the blue haired boy in his lap, who gave a little sniffle and burrowed closer. Tyler stroked a soothing hand through his hair and tucked him against his chest more firmly. Ethan was dressed in a pair of dinosaur footie pajamas and barely visible between the two bodies was a bright blue stuffed puppy clutched in one of his arms. Mark moved more fully into the area and gave a soft clear of his throat as Ethan hiccupped quietly.

“No, he didn’t wake me. Just couldn’t sleep.” He responded automatically, taking a seat opposite the two and simply staring for a moment while his brain processed it all. He supposed he shouldn’t be surprised that Ethan was a Little too. His personality fit the bill fully, and come to think of it, Tyler’s fit a caregiver as well. “So, um, how old is he?” he asked after another beat of silence, watching Tyler use the sleeve of his sweatshirt to dry Ethan’s face.

Tyler hummed quietly and began to rock from side to side. “Usually? About two or three, depending. Sometimes if he can’t feel very little he’s around six or seven. But I’ve normally got a toddler on my hands.” He turned his gaze from Ethan to Mark. “But you’re being suspiciously good natured about this entire thing. What’s up? You haven’t freaked out once. You aren’t weirded out by the adult wearing toddler pajamas and a pull-up?” At the mention of his special underwear, Ethan hid his face in shame, making a quiet sound of distress. Tyler rubbed his back and shushed him. “It isn’t anything to feel bad about, baby boy. It’s just so you don’t have anymore wet bed sheets, remember?” When Ethan made no response, he turned back and raised a brow at Mark.

Mark shifted and cleared his throat again. “It’s, uh… well,” he began carefully. He wasn’t sure Jack would even want another Little/Caregiver pair to know about them. “I… Jack and I… kind of… do this too.” He bit his lip and hoped his boy wouldn’t be upset with him. “He uh, he’s younger though. Maybe ‘bout one or so, sometimes younger. But I bet he’d be a lot more calm about this if he knew you guys wouldn’t tease him or make fun of him for it.”

Tyler’s expression rose. “Really? That’s great! Ethan and I have been looking for someone else about his age to socialize with, and since he already knows you guys, it’d be ideal!” he enthused, and Mark gave a little sigh. He missed his baby, seeing Tyler all cuddled up with his own boy.

“Yeah,” he spoke up. “For a while now. But I hope you know that you’re signing up to babysit if you’re so psyched about this now,” Mark warned with a gleam in his eyes. “ _You_ can change the dirty diapers for once.”

Tyler checked on Ethan again, pleased to find his baby was now asleep, and thankful Mark’s entrance hadn’t incited some sort of temper tantrum out of fear. “I’m gonna put him back in his bed. But if you wanna talk some more, I can come back here.”

Mark bit his lip and thought for a moment, before nodding. “Well, it’s late for everyone to be out of bed. Why don’t we talk tomorrow? I can get Jack on and maybe we can all have a little talk.”

Tyler nodded as he stood up, cradling Ethan carefully against him. “That sounds good. Ethan would love to have a playmate. Hell, I’d love to have someone else around that understood the struggle. And I’d be glad to talk to him with you, if you’d like. I know it might be more easy for both of you if maybe I brought up the topic. Take the spotlight off Jack and sort of ease him into the fact that Ethan and I know about you guys now.”

Mark hummed and pushed to his feet, stifling a yawn with the back of his hand. “Yeah, but for now, I think we should all head back to sleep. G’night.”

“Night.” Tyler murmured as he shuffled past and up the stairs first, allowing Mark to turn off the lights and follow behind. Hopefully, Jack would be receptive to the idea of having a playmate and another caregiver around.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mark, Ethan, and Tyler make pancakes. Ethan doesn't know that syrup goes on pancakes instead of little boys. Chica is happy for attention. After breakfast Tyler and Mark call Jack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part Two of Two! This is heckin' adorable and I had to write it before I left for work.

When morning broke, Mark returned to the kitchen with Chica following him quietly. “You ready for some breakfast, Chica Bica?” he asked the dog playfully, bending to ruffle her ears as they reached the entrance to the shared space. Chica’s tail wagged and her eyes perked up at the mention of food, happy grin appearing as she let her tongue dart out to lick at his wrist before he pulled away. “Yeah,” he cooed. “I bet you are, pretty girl. Let’s see if we can’t getcha somethin’ t’eat, hmm?” Mark moved over to where her bowls sat out, refilling the dish with fresh water before picking up the empty food dish and heading to the pantry. Chica followed expectantly, soft impatient whine building in her throat. “I know, I know, pup,” he murmured above the clatter of food into the metal dish. “I’m gonna take care of you, just a sec.” he set the full bowl on a shelf and quickly reclosed the bag of dog food. “Go back in there,” he said to her, nudging gently with his foot to get the retriever out of the doorway. “You go sit down.” Chica trotted back to the end of the counter and obediently parked herself, tail daintily curling around her two forefeet while her eyes tracked Mark’s every subtle move as he shut the pantry again and approached her. “Good girl, Miss Chica,” Mark rubbed her ears again and set the food down. “You have your breakfast, and Imma make some coffee.” He smiled to himself at the dog’s gusto as she attacked the kibble in the dish, rump in the air and tail wagging while he opened the cabinets to pull down the container of coffee. While his back was turned, footsteps could be heard. Turning around once he’d put the water into the coffee maker, Mark was met with a very sleepy looking Ethan wearing a pair of sweats and an oversized tee. “Morning,” he commented carefully, unsure how Ethan would act around him now.

“Morning,” Ethan fidgeted nervously with his hands, about to bite his fingernails when a fully dressed Tyler appeared and caught him in the nick of time, placing one of his hands over Ethan’s.

“Don’t do that.” Tyler scolded softly, planting a soft kiss atop Ethan’s curls and moving to get a couple of mugs down for himself and Mark. He looked pointedly at Ethan. “No coffee for you. I want you drinking juice or water today.” Ethan pouted softly and turned to look hopefully at Mark—maybe his hero could intervene and get him at least half a cup?

Mark smiled softly and shook his head, raising his hands. “I’m not a part of this discussion, bud. If Tyler says no, then no is the answer I gotta support.” Ethan deflated a little and moved over a few steps to sit down on the floor and pet Chica, who was finished with her breakfast and interested in all the people now.

Tyler took his opportunity and poured himself a cup of coffee, clearing his throat. “Have you thought anymore about talking with Jack?”

Mark hummed and took a swig of his own mug. “Think you and I should call him today. We can do it after breakfast, before he starts to wind down for the night. It’ll be just before dinner his time.”

Tyler nodded. “Alright, whatever you want, but I don’t think we should keep this a secret from him, especially if Little Jack might get upset about it or start to be jealous. Worst case, he might even decide that since you see Ethan every day, you’ll want Ethan more than him. We may have to talk to him about that and reassure him that you’re still his Daddy.”

Mark’s stomach fell. He hadn’t even considered that Jack might start to play the fearful and jealous older sibling card. He licked his lips and nodded. “I… hadn’t even thought of that, Tyler. We should definitely call him as soon as we all get breakfast, because I really don’t want him to get upset if he finds out on his own.”

Tyler smiled and set his mug down. “Eth! Stop playing with the puppy and come wash your hands. You can help Mark and I make pancakes,” he enticed, and the half-little Ethan immediately popped up from the floor and scurried over to the sink. “Remember to use soap this time,” Tyler’s comment was pointed as he smiled to himself and stared at Mark, who looked thoughtful. Tyler elbowed him in the ribs softly. “Mark. C’mon, dude. These pancakes won’t make themselves.”

As the process of making breakfast progressed, Ethan began to slide back into his full headspace, and Mark began to unwind a bit. Halfway through the pancake mixing, Tyler had to lift Ethan up and set him on the counter because he kept trying to stick his hands in the bowl Mark was trying to mix with the blueberries. But Ethan didn’t stay sulky long. Chica zoomed up to the counter and sat down and started to lick his toes, making the baby laugh. Mark shook his head. How the _fuck_ was this so cute?

Eventually, they had enough pancakes for everyone, and could sit down to eat them. Mark had laid out the syrup on the table, but with Ethan Little he was extremely interested in what would happen next. As predicted, within ten minutes Ethan had more syrup on him than on his pancakes, and Tyler looked like he’d rather do anything than give Ethan a bath at the moment.

“Baby, are you ever gonna learn that syrup goes on pancakes and not little boys?” he asked the Little, who just giggled at his Daddy and started to lick it off his hands. “Ethan,” Tyler groaned. “That’s yucky, honey, please stop.”

Mark hid his grin behind a sip of coffee. “Eth,” he cleared his throat. “Eth, listen to your Daddy, bud. Let him finish eating then we can get all cleaned up, okay?”

Ethan beamed at the attention from Mark, nodding his head and being still until the last bites of Tyler’s food were gone. “Bath?” he asked quietly, smiling at Tyler.

“Yeah, honey. Let’s put our dishes in the sink first and then we can go get a bath.” Tyler glanced over at Mark. “You gonna call Jack while I’m taking care of him?”

“Was planning on it, after I let Chica out.” He responded and slowly rose to his feet, picking up all his dishes. Chica, after hearing her name, trotted along behind him and nosed at his leg. “Yeah, pup,” he said fondly. “Imma let you outside for a minute, okay?” he moved across and opened the doors, letting her wander outside to do her business. While she was doing that, he picked up his phone and mashed the Skype icon, waiting for Jack to pick up. There were a few rings before he finally did answer.

“Hey, what’s up?” it sounded like he was eating something.

“Hey, just wanted to check in,” Mark leaned to let Chica back inside, locking the door after her. “Just got done having some pancakes, and thought I’d call.”

“That sounds nice,” Jack responded. “Just called in some curry takeaway,” he said sheepishly. “Should really start cooking for myself.”

“Ah, it’s okay. You’re allowed a few times a week,” Mark winked at him. “Chica says hi, by the way. Chica!” he held the phone out towards his pup. “Say hi to Jack, girl!”

“Chica!” Jack gushed, smiling. “Hey, girl!” Chica whined softly and wagged her tail.

“She misses you,” Mark laughed.

“Well, I miss her too,” it sounded far away, and Mark cursed the fact that they didn’t live close enough to physically see one another.

Tyler appeared not long after, sitting down beside Mark and ruffling Chica’s soft ears.

Mark cleared his throat. “Hey, bud? Tyler and I have something we need to talk to you about real quick.”

Jack stilled. “Did I do somethin’ wrong?” In his nervousness, his accent flared stronger.

“No, no you didn’t do anything wrong, there’s just something Tyler needs to tell you,” Mark reassured with a soft smile. “Ty?”

Tyler shifted over to better see Jack’s face. “Hey, so um… last night, Mark sort of found out about something that Ethan and I are involved in. Um, long story short, Ethan’s my Little. I’m his Daddy, and Mark told us you guys do the same thing. Anyway, I was wondering whether you’d be down to play with Ethan sometimes, he needs another Little guy to socialize with, and he’s been begging for a playmate for months,” Tyler paused and gauged Jack’s reaction.

Blue eyes looked at Mark in awe. “Did… really?” he asked Mark for clarification.

“Mm hmm. It’s all true, bud. You and I don’t have to hide anymore when we’re at home, ‘cause Eth and Ty won’t judge you, bud. I promise. And if they do, I’ll wash their mouth out with soap and make ‘em sit in the time out corner for an hour,” he said seriously, making Tyler smile.

“Promise we won’t be mean about it, Jack. We understand, and we’re so happy to finally have someone else around that understands things and doesn’t think they’re weird or wrong somehow.”

Jack rubbed his mouth with his thumb, a gesture Mark had come to realize meant that Big Jack really wanted to be Little Jack, but somehow felt he couldn’t. “So… you mean… I’d have a friend?” he asked softly, making both Daddies coo softly.

“Yeah, that’s exactly what that means,” Tyler explained quietly. “You and Ethan can watch movies together, and color, and build Mark and I things made from Play Dough,” he listed off, watching Jack’s eyes get shinier as he continued.

“And you guys can go camping in the back yard,” Mark piped in, excited and so relieved his boy wasn’t going to take it the wrong way.

Jack nibbled at the end of his thumb, before finally deciding to screw everything and just put it in his mouth. Tyler’s expression softened and Mark gave a supportive smile. “So, whatcha think, baby boy? You okay with all this?”

Jack nodded and hummed around his thumb. “S’a good idea, Daddy.”

Mark turned toward Tyler and let out a breath. “See? It’s a good idea.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack's sleepy and cute. And also kinda grumpy. But it's ok because Chica is the Best Pup and Mark makes it all better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For NonbinaryMess, who wanted cute Chica and Jack. I hope you like it! (Forgive any crappiness, but I posted late at night and I'm very tired)

One of Mark’s favorite things about having Jack to visit was how Chica responded to the swap between Little Jack and Big Jack. True, Chica loved just about anyone that would give her belly rubs and coo over her, but Jack was different. Even if he wasn’t Little, she’d follow him around the house and try to get him to play with her, or tug at his pants with her teeth or nose at his hands if he was sitting down to beg for pets. If Mark had his door open when he wasn’t recording, he’d hear the little click clack of doggy toenails on the floor whenever Jack moved from room to room, and it never failed to make him smile. However, when he _was_ Little, that just absolutely took the cake for cuteness.

Currently, Mark was sitting at his desk, texting back and forth with Wade about a possible collab; Chica had curled up under his desk, and Jack was nowhere to be found. He hadn’t seen him in a couple of hours, and was starting to worry. He put his phone down and stretched, groaning deep in his chest. “Ungh, Chica, I’m gettin’ too old for all this sitting for long periods of time with no movement thing,” he lamented to the dog, who raised her head and snuffed in agreement, tip of her tail twitching. Mark cracked a smile. “Aw, you’re just the cutest pup, aren’t ya Chica?” he cooed, and scooted out slightly to bend down and rub her ears with both hands. “Who’s a good girl, hmm? Are you my good doggy? You’re certainly the cutest doggy in the whole wide world, yes you are!” he told her, and she grinned like she understood him, raising on her front legs a bit to lean into his touches. “Ah, that’s a good pup, yes it is!” he patted her a few more times and stood up. “Where’s Jack, Chica? You wanna go find him? Huh? Go find Jack!” he encouraged, as she followed him curiously towards the door. Mark pointed. “C’mon, pup, go find Jack!” Chica let out a little soft yelp and scampered out the doorway, tail wagging as she planted herself in front of Jack’s closed door and pawed at it impatiently. Soft whines emitted from the dog every couple seconds as Mark leisurely approached. “Sucks not to have opposable thumbs, huh?” he empathized, and turned the knob to let her go inside. Chica ran inside the semi-darkened room, where Jack was sprawled over the bed, hand hanging over the side. Mark grinned in amusement as Chica went immediately for the dangling hand, licking at it as her tail wagged happily. Jack stirred lethargically and groaned.

“Mm, Chica!” he complained sleepily, withdrawing his hand and blinking himself awake. “S’not funny, Chica.” Jack pushed himself up and rubbed at his eyes, gaze landing on Mark.

“Hi, sleepy head.” Mark greeted as he sauntered over to the bed and perched on the edge while Chica nosed at the sheets and attempted to get closer to Jack. She knew better than to get on the bed, but she was going to try her hardest to toe the line. “Chica and I were beginning to worry about you,” he teased.

Jack gave a slightly grumpy look at having been woken up. He was still adjusting to time zones. Fine. Two could play that game. Jack scooted over and wormed his way into Mark’s lap, dropping his forehead to Mark’s shoulder and wrapping his arms around him. “Tired.” He grumped, letting himself relax. He wasn’t Little at the moment, but he felt borderline enough to demand cuddles.

Mark’s arms immediately wrapped around Jack’s back, one hand rubbing softly at his shoulder blades. “I know you are,” he could tell from tone and mannerisms that this was not quite his baby just yet, and it amused him that Jack still wanted to cuddle if he wasn’t fully little. “But you have to get used to the schedule around here. Now,” he ran a hand through Jack’s hair. “You gotta get ready for dinner.”

Jack pouted groggily. “Carry me.” His grip tightened around Mark, and Mark laughed softly.

“Somebody’s legs broken?” he asked good-naturedly. “Can’t walk all the way down the stairs, is that it?”

Jack nodded against his shoulder. “Too far. S’what you’re for.”

“I see,” Mark replied in amusement. “Well, before we go down first, we should change clothes. I got you a little something the other day and I want you to try it on.”

“Wha’ is it?” Jack slurred tiredly, clearly in no hurry to move even with the prospect of a present involved.

“You’ll have to see,” Mark tapped him on the back. “Now come on, up you get. We gotta go to my room and get it.”

Grumbling quietly, Jack reluctantly left the shelter of Mark’s lap and rubbed his eyes with a yawn. Chica nudged at his leg and he reached down to pat her head softly.

“Alright, come on.” Mark spoke up, motioning to Jack as he left the room.

Curious, he followed behind and let Chica nose at his leg. “Don’t suppose you know what it is?” he asked the dog, who just sneezed and shook her ears. “Guess that’s a ‘no’,” he laughed as he came into the room.

Mark was rummaging inside a bag near the bed, and held up one finger. “Just a sec. Close your eyes for a minute.”

Jack’s brow furrowed, but nonetheless he shut his eyes obediently, one hand toying with the silky fur of Chica’s head as he waited. A moment later he could sense Mark standing in front of him.

“Okay, open.” Mark’s face was expectant as he opened his eyes, and a soft look of awe entered Jack’s eyes as they traveled over the swath of soft fabric Mark held out by the shoulders.

“Dinosaurs!” he said, pleased.

“Yup!” Mark smiled widely, happy that Jack approved of his surprise. The soft white onesie was patterned over with smiling dinosaurs, and Mark had nearly smashed the purchase button when he’d seen it online. It just screamed Jack. “You wanna try it on, bud?”

Jack nodded excitedly and near immediately started to take off his clothes. Neither one of them was fazed by it. When you were a Little and Big pair your Big saw enough of you to last a lifetime, and it sort of took away that instinct to be ashamed of nakedness or to care who saw your junk.

Mark laughed as Jack’s head got stuck. “Here, lemme help,” he stepped in, placing the onesie on his bed and reaching up to get the sleeves over Jack’s shoulders and unstick his head. “There we go!” he tossed the garment aside and stood back as Jack shimmied out of his pants, leaving him just in socks and his boxer-briefs. “You want help putting it on, or no?” Mark asked carefully. Jack was still mostly big, so Mark didn’t want to push.

“Want your help,” he decided thoughtfully.

Mark pursed his lips as he grabbed the onesie from off the bed. “Are you still mostly big, or do you think you should change out of your boxers?”

Jack blushed and shifted nervously. “Um, not little but don’t want to take chances. Just in case.”

Mark nodded supportively. “Alright. You wanna go take care of that, or do you want my help?”

Jack’s blush deepened. “Can’t really do it as good as you by myself.”

“Mkay, I understand, bud. You go over there and I’ll go get the supplies from the bathroom.” Mark tossed the onesie over his shoulder and went to his bathroom to grab the bag of diaper supplies from beneath the sink.

Jack nibbled at his fingernails and crawled up on the bed, laying back and staring up at the ceiling. It wasn’t that he didn’t like the affection and things when he wasn’t really Little, it was just… he felt more of a burden on Mark when his Big side was more dominant.

Mark appeared a moment later and set the things on the bed beside Jack, reaching out to put a hand on his stomach. “Okay, bud. Here we go,” he rubbed at Jack’s tummy softly, wanting to somehow make this whole thing less awkward for him if he was still trying to get into headspace.

Jack flushed anew and tried to hide his face while Mark took off his socks and slid his underwear down his legs, and soon he felt a soft texture at his elbow.

“You want Denny?”

Eagerly, he reached for the plush brachiosaur, hiding his face in the bright green softness instead of his arm.

Mark cooed softly at the sight and made quick work of getting Jack all diapered up, reaching to tap his arm. “Alright, Jackaboy. Sit up for me. Let’s get this on you real fast.”

Jack brought his face out of hiding and sat himself up, already feeling a bit more at ease now that that was finished.

“Arms up,” Mark sang, and Jack looked a little uneasy at having to put his dinosaur down to do so, but he obeyed and let Mark slide the soft fabric over his torso. “And, stand up,” he directed once more, taking Jack’s hands and helping him stand steadily. “And… we’re done!” Mark pronounced, after snapping up the crotch and handing him back Denny. Jack latched onto the softness of the toy and took a second to breathe before he looked up at a smiling Mark. “You wanna look in the mirror?” he pointed to the over the door mirror that hung on the closet. Jack nodded almost shyly and slipped off the bed, padding over to the mirror and peering at himself. His eyes lit up and a moment later he was back in front of Mark, reaching out his spare arm for a hug and hiding his face in Mark’s neck.

“Thank you. I love it.” He mumbled, and Mark wrapped his arms around him with a smile.

“I’m glad you like it,” he responded, and just let Jack cling for a minute while he rubbed his back. “Now,” Mark spoke back up. “We gotta go get food. You still want me to carry you?”

Jack nodded against Mark and Mark hummed. “Okay. First let’s grab you some socks and pants so you don’t get cold.” He gently guided Jack to sit on the bed and came back after a minute with a pair of blue fuzzy socks and grey sweats. “There we go,” he cooed after making sure Jack was all cozy in his socks and pants. Then he picked him back up and carried him downstairs to the kitchen with Chica in tow.

When Mark tried to put him down so he could heat up the leftovers, Jack whined and clung to him. “Bud, it’s just for a minute, okay? You can play with Chica while I’m doing it,” he tried to wheedle, but apparently Jack was little enough now actually be okay with that, and he loosened his grip. “Good boy,” Mark praised, and kissed his hair as he sat him down on his bottom. “See? Not even leaving the room.” Chica immediately ran up to Jack and began to lick his face, making him squeal with laughter. Tail wagging, she leaned into the hands that came up to run through her fur, patting and tugging. “Careful, bud. Be gentle to the puppy,” Mark warned after catching sight from the corner of his eye as he spooned enchilada into a bowl for himself. “Don’t pull on Chica’s hair, it doesn’t feel good to her.” But Chica made no mind of it, happy grin still in place as she allowed the baby to be a little rough with her. After heating up his own food, Mark debated on making some for Jack. He seemed small enough today that he wouldn’t even really want much more than a bottle, really.

Taking advantage of the distraction Chica provided, Mark scarfed down his portion of food before heating up a protein supplemented bottle for Jack. “Jackaboo?” he called, holding out the bottle. “Look at what I’ve got for you!”

Humming happily, Jack raised up to his hands and knees and reached for the item, making a little impatient sound in his throat. Mark chuckled. His baby was too cute. “I know, Bug. I know you’re hungry, now c’mere.” He scooped him up and moved over to sit at the table, situating Jack comfortably and handing him the bottle. Greedily, he latched on and began to suck it down, and Mark rubbed his tummy lightly. “There we go. Drink up.” Chica sat down beside them and watched intently at the happenings, almost as if she were skeptical of whether or not Mark might hurt Jack. When Jack was finished, Mark set aside the empty bottle and let the Little snuggle up to his chest. “You want these back?” he offered the discarded comfort objects back, and Jack clumsily hugged his blankie and dinosaur again. “Yeah, I bet you’re sleepy, huh? Full tummy can do that to you.” Mark commented, and brushed a stray lock of hair from Jack’s face. “Let’s get you back upstairs for a nap. Well, technically this would be bedtime, I guess.” He mused as he moved up towards his room and Chica trotted behind. “Bedtime for Baby Bug!” Mark sang, as he tucked Jack into his bed and watched Chica curl up right beside the bed. “Gonna watch over him for me while I get some work done?” He asked her as he patted her side. “That’s a good girl, Chica.” He watched as Jack squirmed around to get comfortable, sucking at one of his knuckles. Replacing the finger with one of Jack’s pacis, Mark leaned forward and kissed his forehead. “Night night, Lil’ Bug. You have sweet dreams.”

 

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mark runs errands, Tyler babysits. There's just a lot of tears going around.

“Come on, baby boy,” Mark spoke up, kissing Jack’s forehead. “It won’t be for long, I promise. And you can watch movies with Ethan while I’m gone!” He tried in vain to cheer up the Little, but Jack wasn’t having any of it. He didn’t understand why he would come all the way to visit his Daddy only to have Daddy turn around and _leave_ him! Jack clung tightly to Mark and sniffled precariously, whimpering.

“No!” he pleaded.

“Jack, baby, Daddy has to go. But he won’t be gone for very long, just a few hours, he promises,” Mark sighed, rubbing Jack’s back.

Jack’s fingers gripped at Mark’s shirt, and he let out a little sob. “No!” he repeated. “No, no, no.”

“Jack,” Mark’s tone held a soft warning, though his eyes were patient. He wouldn’t allow his little guy to throw a tantrum when it was Tyler’s first time to babysit for him.

Jack gave a little upset groan and gripped tighter, starting to cry. “No!”

“Yes, Bug,” Mark argued, and carried him down the stairs to where Tyler was waiting. Ethan was happily ensconced in the living room with his coloring books, _Finding Nemo_ playing quietly in the background. “Jack, Daddy has to go now and run some errands, but Tyler’s gonna take good care of you while Daddy’s gone, okay?” Mark spoke over Jack’s despairing cries. Tyler gave a sympathetic face and reached forward to help Mark pry the clingy baby off of his person.

“Come here, baby boy,” Tyler said softly, as Jack kept trying to squirm away from him, reaching pathetically for Mark as he donned his jacket and grabbed his keys.

Jack’s face crumpled as he watched Mark leave, finally curling into Tyler as the door clicked shut, keening loudly.

“I know, buddy, I know.” Tyler cooed, bouncing him slightly and rubbing his back. “But he’s coming back, I promise. Your Daddy wouldn’t leave you like that,” Tyler reassured, and brushed a hand through Jack’s hair.

“D-dada!” he cried through his tears, nose running freely.

Tyler grimaced at the snotty nose and moved for the side table near the sofa, grabbing a tissue from the box and swiping quickly at the squirmy baby’s nose. “I know, honey,” he murmured. “But he’s coming back later,” Tyler repeated softly, as Ethan looked up from his coloring pages curiously. Tyler tossed the gross tissue in the trashcan and rocked from side to side, attempting to soothe the upset baby.

“Dada,” Jack whimpered quietly, becoming more subdued at the soothing motions.

“I know,” Tyler whispered to him, and rubbed his back as Ethan crawled to his feet and appeared at his elbow. “What’s up, Eth?” he asked, and looked over to meet Ethan’s gaze.

“Why’s he cryin’?” Ethan asked curiously, eyes big and wide.

“He’s crying because he misses his Daddy, honey.” Tyler explained gently, as Jack whimpered once more and stuck his fingers in his mouth. “Oh, baby, that’s yucky,” he cooed at the sniffling Jack, before looking back across to his little one. “Ethan, baby, can you run upstairs and get Jack’s paci and his blankie from his bed for me?”

Ethan nodded eagerly, blue hair bobbing as he scampered from the room, happy to find something he could do to help the baby not feel so bad. A moment later he appeared again, beaming. “Didn’t run on the stairs, Daddy!” he announced as he held out the items.

“That’s very good, Eth, I’m proud of you,” Tyler responded with a smile as he wiped the paci on his pants before offering it to Jack. Jack opened his mouth like a baby bird, and Tyler stuck it into his mouth as he reached and took the baby’s blanket from Ethan. Jack immediately grabbed the familiar grey and yellow polka-dotted fabric, clutching it to his chest. “There we go, honey.” Tyler murmured, and reached to ruffle Ethan’s hair. “That was really sweet of you to help out, Ethan. I’m sure you helped make Jack feel lots better, buddy.”

Ethan beamed once more and gave a soft hum, leaning forward to nuzzle at Tyler’s arm. “Don’t want the baby to cry,” he responded sweetly, and Tyler cooed as he reached out to hug Ethan to his side with one arm.

“You’re such a good boy,” he informed the little one, and released him after a moment. “Now, let’s go finish watching the movie, hmm?” Tyler looked down at Jack, whose face was streaked with drying tears. “Does that sound good, lil’ guy?”

Jack whimpered around his paci, nodding against Tyler as the fingers of his hand not holding onto his blanket clutched at Tyler’s shirt desperately. He still looked downright miserable.

“Don’t worry, I won’t putcha down,” Tyler reassured as they all moved to the sofa. Settling down, he let Jack curl against him, as Ethan leaned against his other side and cuddled with his stuffed puppy. Tyler periodically stroked a hand through Jack’s hair and smiled to himself as Ethan giggled along with the movie every now and then. By the time the credits rolled and Ethan was asking for dinosaur chicken nuggets, Jack was asleep, exhausted from crying himself out. “Alright, okay baby hang on,” Tyler murmured to Ethan. “We can have nuggets once I get Jack put down for a nap.” Momentarily satisfied, Ethan chewed at the ear of his puppy and watched curiously as Tyler stood up and cradled Jack to his chest and cooed softly to soothe as the baby fussed at being moved. “You wait here for me. I’m gonna go put Jack in his bed, okay?”

Ethan nodded. “Kay.”

Tyler made short work of tucking the baby in and turning on the baby monitor, sticking it to his belt before returning downstairs to grab Ethan. “Hey, baby boy. You ready to have some chicken nuggets?” he asked, and Ethan hummed softly, reaching up to be carried. He was still getting used to sharing his Daddy. Tyler laughed softly and happily obliged, carrying his boy into the kitchen and sitting him on the counter. “Alrighty Mister Ethan.” Tyler smiled and kissed his Little on the nose, making him crinkle it up cutely. “Let’s get those in the oven real fast, hmm?”

Everything went uneventfully, at least, until Jack woke up again. Cursing softly as tears began over the baby monitor, Tyler transferred Ethan from his lap into his own seat at the table and hurried upstairs to grab Jack. “Shh, hey, lil’ guy,” Tyler crooned, and picked him up. “Whassa matter, hm? I’m right here, bud.” He assured, as Jack latched onto him pitifully. It was only then that he heard the wailing from downstairs. “Fuck,” he breathed, hurriedly snatching up Jack’s blankie and handing it to the baby as he clipped a pacifier to his onesie and headed back downstairs. “Ethan?” He called worriedly over Jack’s sobbing. “Ethan, are you okay, buddy?”

Ethan was standing near the table, face crumpled up as he sobbed, a puddle of liquid around him and a dark stain on his sweatpants. Tyler’s face creased in sympathy. “Aw, buddy.” He crooned quietly, bouncing Jack a little. He’d really been working with Ethan lately on not forgetting to use the bathroom before and after mealtimes, but sometimes one or both of them forgot and accidents happened. “It’s okay, baby,” he assured, patting Jack’s back. “It’s alright, I’m not mad,” Tyler murmured, as Jack began to calm down, finally discovering the paci Tyler’d clipped to his front. “C’mere,” he offered kindly, opening his spare arm as Ethan launched himself over and clung to him desperately. Tyler kissed Ethan on the head. “Calm down, baby. It’s okay. We’re just gonna clean you up, okay? Just remember next time to go potty before we eat, hmm?” He sighed resignedly, and took Ethan’s hand. “Come on, baby boy. Let’s go upstairs and have a bath, hmm?” Ethan whimpered and allowed himself to be led upstairs, knuckling at wet eyes with one fist.

It was hard to say the least to get one Little into the bath while you still had one that wouldn’t let go of you, but Tyler managed it. Suitably placating Jack with his blankie and allowing him to sit right beside him while he tended to Ethan, he got the bath run and Ethan stripped down, gross clothes bagged up in a Walmart sack to deal with later. “Here we go,” he cooed, as Ethan stared with doleful eyes. “Doesn’t that feel nice, honey?” Tyler asked, as he cupped a hand over Ethan’s eyes and got his hair wet with the warm water. “Don’t you worry, Daddy’s gonna get you all clean in no time, buddy.” Ethan let out a little whimper and chewed on a knuckle. Tyler frowned. “Baby, don’t do that. It’s yucky,” he reminded, and handed Ethan a rubber ducky. “Look, don’t you want to play with any of your bathtime toys? Pirate Ducky looks like he wants to play,” he attempted to entice, as Jack watched the scene unfold with wide eyes, sucking on his pacifier intently. A sad noise escaped Ethan as he picked up the ducky and quietly made it swim around the little sworls of bubbles in the tub. Tyler made quick work of washing his hair while he was distracted, before picking up the loofa and washing his body. “Don’t worry, Eth. Daddy’s gonna make you feel so much better once you’re out of this bath and we get you into some clean clothes.”

Not long after, a soft knock sounded at the door to the bathroom—Tyler’d had to shut it just in case Jack tried to wander off while he was tending to Ethan—and Mark stuck his head inside. “Hey guys,” he greeted cautiously, and Jack made a little happy sound in his throat, arms automatically reaching towards his Daddy with grabby hands. Mark’s eyes crinkled as he smiled. “Hi, baby boy. Just a minute. Daddy’s gotta put Chica outside before he can hold you.” He looked over to Tyler. “How did everything go?”

Tyler made a face. “Jack had a nap, cried a lot, Ethan had his dinner, then he had an accident, and here we are.” He recited, looking grateful that Mark was home to help deal with the Littles.

“Aw, Eth, that’s no fun buddy, I’m sorry that happened,” Mark empathized, holding the doorknob so Chica couldn’t nose her way inside. “Well, I’m gonna let the dog out, and put the groceries up and then I’ll be back for him,” he nodded towards Jack, who was looking like he might cry if he didn’t get held soon.

“Alright, thanks.” Tyler responded, as he unplugged the drain and let the water drain out. As soon as Mark shut the door Jack began to whine, looking up at Tyler with a victimized expression. “He’s coming right back, after he lets the puppy outside.” He explained, standing up and helping Ethan to his feet. Swiftly, so his little guy didn’t get cold, Tyler dried him off and expertly bundled him into a Pull-Up and his pajamas—it may have been six thirty, but Ethan obviously needed some comfort. “Can you sit with the baby for a minute, while Daddy goes to put your clothes in the wash?” he asked, and Ethan looked a little upset at the prospect, but nodded.

“Yes,” he whispered, feeling subdued and just wanting cuddles after everything. “Sit with the baby for a second,” he agreed once more, curling himself down on the floor beside Jack.

“Good boy,” Tyler praised, kissing his damp curls and picking up the bag of clothes. “How’d it go at the vet?” he asked, passing Mark in the hallway as he went through to the laundry room.

“Oh, it was fine. Chica’s healthy as can be. It was just a checkup, really. She needed to update some shots and things,” he answered, as he put the last of the groceries in the cupboard. That done, he went over to stand beside Tyler as he started up the washing machine. “Does Ethan have many accidents?” he asked curiously. “I know you’ve been setting him a schedule and things, but I don’t think I’ve ever noticed that he had any before.”

Tyler pursed his lips and leaned against the wall facing Mark. “Just… sort of here and there at night mostly, but recently he’s been forgetting or not telling me more. I can’t help but wonder whether or not he’s just using it as an attention getter or something,” he nibbled at his lip and frowned. “Am I not giving him enough attention? I know everyone’s schedules get crazy and sometimes we can’t have them be Little for very long, and sometimes Jack has to go back home for a few weeks, but…” he shrugged.

Mark hummed. “No, I think it’s probably because you’re giving him more attention than usual. You know, like… you’re giving him more attention, so he slips deeper and genuinely forgets to get himself to a bathroom before it becomes a problem.” He reasoned. “But, if you worry about it, just have him wear a Pull-Up during the day as well as during the night, and you’ll not have so much to clean up if something does happen.”

Tyler sighed softly. “Yeah. I guess so. I mean, it makes sense, I just feel bad for not seeing that he’s gotten so deep, you know?”

Mark patted his shoulder. “Don’t beat yourself up. We’re both relatively new at this, despite having done it for a while. Mistakes happen, but luckily they’re both ages that they forgive easily. I’d shudder to think what would happen if we had older Littles.”

Tyler laughed. “Imagine having a Little that was like, fifteen or sixteen in their headspace. That’d be a nightmare to deal with.”

They climbed the stairs together, and Jack nearly knocked Tyler over in his haste to crawl over to Mark. “Hey, Bug,” Mark chuckled, as Tyler stepped around them to grab Ethan. “Did you miss Daddy?” Jack hummed and curled up against Mark’s chest as he picked him up, nuzzling at his shoulder affectionately. “I’ll take that as a yes.” He responded happily. “Now, let’s go get your diaper changed and we can cuddle some together before bed.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack has some trouble getting to Mark's house. It's wet, rainy, and Jack's upset. Tyler is a good friend and Jack needs so many cuddles. Ethan's stuck at the airport.

It was around seven am LA time when things took a worse turn in Jack’s world. He’d just dragged himself off a flight from Brighton and into a cab, struggling with his carryon and backpack while he wrangled his bigger suitcase into the trunk. It didn’t help that the cab driver wanted to _talk_ so early in the morning, either. Jack wadded up his sweatshirt and stuck it under his head, not replying to anything and simply trying to go back to sleep after giving him the address. The rest of the ride passed uneventfully for around another half hour before, naturally, everything went to shit. Groaning softly, Jack pushed himself up to a sitting position and scowled at the driver as he entered into a shouting match with a woman over his phone. Fumbling around, he pulled out his cell and texted Mark.

_Fuck it, this cab driver is actually shouting at his girlfriend over the phone right now. As if I didn’t crave drama at barely seven am your time when I’m trying to adjust to time zones already._

A moment passed before Mark’s reply, wherein the driver’s shouting got more profane and louder if possible, swerving in and out of traffic dangerously.

**_Well, stay safe. Sorry that happened to you so early, man. Got an ETA? I’m just now waking up to get Chica outside._ **

Jack cursed under his breath and ripped his eyes away from the screen as he went slamming over into the door, elbow twanging painfully.

_With this asshole’s driving, probably a half hour. If we get stuck in traffic just add another hour._

**_Got it. Looking forward to seeing you again in person and working on those videos!!!_ **

He shook his head at the extra punctuation, smiling as he flipped over to his email to delete all the spam ones. Might as well make good use of the time he was trapped in this hell cab. And as if it lacked the proper ambience for a shitty cab ride, thunder echoed over head and the skies opened up properly, dumping a shit ton of water over the commuters.

Through the shouting at his woman over what Jack had come to realize was a “you cheated with my best friend” situation, the driver focused back in just long enough to let out a louder than the actual thunder curse and swerve to miss debris that had fallen off a truck. Jack went skidding over to the other side of the back seat, yelping in surprise as the car went from swerving to full on hydroplaning.

The next few minutes passed in a blur of shouting and colors, honking and thunder and heavy rain causing Jack’s brain to hit overload, heart pounding in his throat. In an effort to steady himself Jack reached out and gripped to the handle of the door, hanging on as tightly as possible. There was a heavy thunk as one of the cars behind them didn’t miss them in time and collided with the trunk, sending him into the seat in front of him with a grunt. As the car made another pirouette to the side, Jack cried out as his arm was wrenched, immediately letting go of the door to clutch his forearm to his chest. Another jolt tossed him across the car again, knocking his skull against the opposite door before the car jerked to a halt. Groaning, Jack raised his non-injured hand to his face and pressed hard against the blood dripping from above his eye, taking a moment to simply breathe before he raised up to look out the window. The scene outside was chaos, more than just their own car involved in the accident, and as he panned his gaze up to the front seat, he noticed the driver was unconscious, slumped to the side over the gear-shift. The remnants of adrenaline in his system tamped down on the panic he felt, allowing him to move down to pick up his phone from the floor and call Mark. Relief overwhelmed him whenever he heard Mark pick up, the sound of sirens getting closer causing his blood pressure to rise even more than it already had. He really didn’t want to deal with the police or the fire department at the moment—all he wanted was to go home with Mark and curl up and calm down.

“Hey, what happened? You said you’d be here by now,” Mark spoke up.

“W-I was… there was an accident,” Jack spoke up quietly, groaning as he shifted and it caused his arm to throb. Through the heavy rain he could see people struggling over towards the cab to try and help get him out. “Need you to come get me, please.”

Immediately, Mark was panicking. “Are you okay? Are you hurt? I’m putting on my shoes right now and I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“My arm,” he managed, as a man pried the driver side door open and offered him a hand out. Jack scooted over and allowed himself to be shephereded outside. “An’ M’head. Knocked it on the door. S’bleedin’.”

Mark cursed and stamped his tennis shoes onto his feet as he grabbed his keys and hollered for Tyler. “Tyler! Get down here, now, we gotta go!”

Jack swallowed and let the man who had helped him take him over to the newly arrived ambulance. “Get here soon,” he said weakly into the phone, feeling nauseated. The pain was starting to finally kick in, and he was feeling the strong urge to be Little.

“I will. We will. Hang in there buddy,” Mark promised soothingly as Tyler came hurtling down the stairway. “You just wait for us to get there.” The other line held some commotion as the paramedics took away Jack’s phone and hung up.

“What the hell is going on?” Tyler asked, looking at Mark as if he were crazy.

“Jack’s been in an accident,” he informed, eyes betraying his fear. “He says he isn’t hurt too badly, but we gotta go pick him up. Call Ethan and let him know we’ll be gone when he gets back.” Tyler nodded and immediately fished his phone from his pocket and began to talk to Ethan, while Mark put on his rain jacket and went to start the car.

A moment later Tyler joined him, a fearful but sour look on his face. “S’alright. His flight’s delayed from the storm anyway. He’ll be home in a few hours as soon as they’re cleared to fly. He’s just sitting on the plane, and you _know_ he doesn’t like storms.” Tyler gave a little snarl as he jerked his seatbelt on, his own jacket crinkling as he buckled it in.

Mark backed down the drive and bit his lip. “Well, this day hasn’t gone to plan.” He said, deflecting his worry and fear with a bit of sarcasm.

“I hope Jack’s okay,” Tyler murmured as he looked out the window. “I mean, at least I know Ethan will be alright. Jack was actually injured to some degree.”

Mark hummed. “I may need you to take care of his luggage and things. You can drive the car if I need to go with him to the hospital or anything.”

“Of course. Though let’s hope it isn’t that bad.”

“Oh, I’m hoping.” Mark responded, cursing as the two got stopped by a red light. “Goddamn _traffic_!” he slapped the steering wheel with an open palm, and Tyler turned to give him a look.

“Keep it together, Mark,” He warned quietly. “Getting angry isn’t going to help anything. It’s just going to stress you more.” Tyler placed a hand on his friend’s forearm. “Just take a few deep breaths. He couldn’t have been that far away, and I’m sure we’ll get there soon. I know you’re worried about him, but both of us need to keep a clear head if we’re going to help him at all.”

Mark sighed and hit the gas once the light turned. “You’re right.” He said softly. “I’m sorry. Let’s just… get over there as fast as we can and get him outta there.”

Jack allowed the paramedics to check him out, climbing up inside the ambulance to (pointlessly, since he was soaked already from being escorted to the ambulance in the rain) shelter himself from the storm, clutching the shock blanket around his shoulders with his good hand as someone stitched up his eyebrow. A second pair of hands splinted his sprained forearm, and all he wanted to do was cry. He was coming down off his adrenaline high now, and he only wanted to see Mark and maybe have a hug. The storm’s wind kicked up again and he shivered, not paying attention when the paramedic that had stitched him up told him he’d done a good job at being still for her. Jack continued to stare blankly while the few other casualties got tended to, nearly bursting into tears when he heard his name being called over the rain.

“Jack!” It was Mark, making his way through the crowd with Tyler behind him, and they were carrying his things. A soft noise made its way from his throat, and he clambered down without a second thought, tossing the blanket away from him as he ran for Mark and slammed into him, crushing him in a hug with his good arm and burying his face into the shoulder of his rain jacket. “Hey, it’s alright,” Mark assured over the sound of the drops of rain bouncing off the material of his jacket. “You’re fine, bud. Let’s go get you into the car, okay? Tyler’s gonna take us home and you can sit with me in the back.” Jack had never been more grateful to hear someone say anything. Mark secured an arm around Jack’s waist and shepherded him into the car, unzipping his jacket and tossing it into the front while Tyler put the luggage into the trunk. “Lemme look at you, bud.” He spoke up, as Jack shivered beside him. “Show me what’s hurt,” he directed softly.

Jack pointed to his arm and reached up to push his bangs out of his face with his good hand. “Just those two,” He explained, and scooted closer to Mark. Mark hummed quietly and scrutinized the stitches that stood out against Jack’s pale skin.

“I bet it must have been pretty scary, going through all that,” he commented, as Tyler started to drive away.

Jack nodded tiredly. “I was pretty upset,” he admitted, and let Mark put his arm around his shoulders. “More scared after, when you weren’t there to help.”

“Well, don’t worry, Jackaboy. We’re gonna be home soon and then we can do whatever you want, okay?”

Jack let his head drop to Mark’s shoulder, feeling himself starting to slip slightly.

“You’re absolutely soaked,” Mark murmured. “We gotta getcha into some dry clothes. Maybe make you something warm to drink, hmm?”

Jack hummed and let his eyes slide shut.

“Jack, wake up,” Jack frowned and whined. He was finally warm and cozy. He didn’t want to move. “C’mon, bud. We’re home and we gotta get you inside and cleaned up.” Jack whined once more. “Tyler says he’ll make hot cocoa,” Mark wheedled. Jack opened his eyes and clutched his arm to his chest. “Good boy.” Mark asserted, sliding out of the back seat and waiting patiently until Jack joined him. “You wanna go take a shower real fast, or just wanna grab some clean clothes?”

Jack cocked his head and thought for a moment as they stood in the hallway. “Just clothes,” he answered cautiously, while Mark examined his forehead again, frowning at the bruising.

“Okay. C’mon. Let’s take these things upstairs for you,” he murmured, taking Jack’s backpack and one suitcase while Tyler gave an encouraging smile and held the other one. “Go on,” Mark encouraged, with a matching smile. Jack took a deep breath and started to climb the stairs, the presence of two other sets of feet behind him soothing him and reminding him he wasn’t alone.

Once they’d dropped off Jack’s things, Tyler excused himself to go make cocoa, and Mark cleared his throat quietly. “You want me to stay, while you get changed, or you want me to go?”

“Stay,” he answered, lip quivering.

“Hey,” Mark crooned softly, opening his arms and stepping closer.

Jack whined softly and wrapped his arm around Mark, pressing his face to his shoulder. “Scary.” He whispered, voice hitching.

“I know. I know it was, but you’re all right, I promise. You’re right where you belong, and you’re safe, Bug.” Mark rubbed his back, feeling the tension rolling off of him. “It’s alright.” He whispered. “Just let me take care of you,” he murmured, as Jack leaned more heavily into him.

Whining softly, Jack allowed himself to be picked up and walked over to the bed, finally allowing himself to let the tears out while Mark moved around unzipping things and pulling out clothes.

“Here, Bug,” the soft plush of his blanket appeared in front of him, and he clutched at it desperately, whimpering. “I know, Lil’ Bug. Daddy knows it was scary for you and that you’re hurting. But soon Ethan will be back home too and we can all watch a movie together and have cocoa! Doesn’t that sound nice?”

Jack’s face screwed up, and he simply cried harder, all his wild emotions from the day hitting him at once. He didn’t really even notice when Mark had finished dressing him in a clean diaper and set of pajamas. The only thing he wanted was to be held again.

Soon, Mark had the baby bundled up in his arms with his blankie, and carefully carried him down the stairs to see Tyler in the kitchen. Chica was sitting beside Tyler as he stirred the pot on the stove, and she whined questioningly as she heard Jack’s tears.

“He’s gonna be alright, pup.” Mark murmured to her, as Tyler turned to face them.

“I take it he dropped pretty hard into headspace, then,” he spoke up, glancing over at the clock. “And Ethan should be home sometime after lunch. But if we finish this before he gets here, don’t tell him we had it. He’ll kill me for not saving him any, on top of breaking the ‘no sugar before lunch’ rule,”

Mark laughed quietly and rubbed Jack’s back. “Scout’s honor, Ty. Won’t tell him anything. Now, which one of Eth’s Disney movies do you think we should watch with Jackabug, here? I think we all need something calming until Ethan gets home.”

Tyler thought for a second and took the pot off the stovetop. “Hmm. How about we all watch The Aristocats? It’s tame enough to watch and nobody get scared.” He poured a couple mugs of cocoa before reaching over to grab a bottle out of the cabinet and filling it with some cocoa for Jack.

Mark carried the sniffly baby into the living room and queued up the movie, sitting down and running a hand through Jack’s hair. “How about we just watch a nice movie and calm down, hmm?” he asked the Little, using the sleeve of his sweatshirt to swipe at his face.

“Here, honey,” Tyler cooed at the baby, handing Mark a bottle of hot cocoa for Jack. “That’ll make you feel better.”

“Open up, Bug. Let’s get something warm into your tummy,” Mark murmured, as Jack pitifully obeyed and put one of his hands over Mark’s.

Mark let the colorful open credits wash over him and held Jack close, reminding himself that his boy was okay and everything was going to be alright. The sound of rain against the ceiling along with the warmth of the cocoa in their bellies kept the three of them in a sleep like stupor, until the door opened and soft cursing alerted them to Ethan’s arrival.

“Hey, is everything okay?” he asked, materializing at Mark’s elbow and staring down at a now sleeping Jack. Tyler’s warning look had him sheepishly lowering his volume. “Sorry. I just wanted to see if he was okay. It scared the shit out of me to get that message before I took off.”

Mark smiled up at him. “Everything’s fine, Eth. He’s just got a sprained arm and some stitches. We’re lucky it wasn’t anything worse.”

Ethan nodded and seemed to deflate, all the tension leaving his frame as his gaze moved to the television. “Thanks for waiting on me,” he joked as he dropped his bags and folded himself into a cross-legged position on the floor, leaning back against Tyler’s legs. Tyler absently handed Ethan the last half of his most recent refill of cocoa, and Ethan took it without question, smiling softly as he sipped at the warm drink.

“Hey, you ain’t the ruler of everything, kid,” Tyler teased back. “Besides, we needed something to calm down the baby.” He sighed and reached forward, using a tissue to wipe off Ethan’s cocoa mustasche.

Ethan squirmed. “Ty! M’not even Little!” he complained, and Tyler shrugged. “Sorry, bud. Can’t help myself.”

Mark quietly listened to the teasing banter and ran his hand through Jack’s hair once more. He was so glad things weren’t worse. Ethan came home safely, Jack hadn’t gotten hurt worse, and he and Tyler still had their boys.

For the moment, everything was okay.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tyler goes to visit family, this time Mark babysits. Jack's adorable.  
> Ethan needs reassurance that he's a big boy and pines for his Daddy.  
> Tyler nervous texts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For SniperOnTheRoof, who wanted to see Markimoo babysitting these cute boys :)

Tyler stood nervously in the doorway, watching as Ethan showed Jack how to build a tower with the big Legos, only to huff and scowl as the baby knocked them down immediately after Ethan had put them up.

“Jack!” Ethan squealed. “No, you’re supposed ta use them to play with, like knights and castles!” he tried to explain. Jack picked up a discarded Lego and put it in his mouth.

Tyler’s lips curled into a wistful smile, and he turned around with most of his mind made up to cancel his trip, only to bump into Mark.

“Don’t even think about it. You’ve got the ticket in your hand, for Pete’s sake.” Mark spoke cheerfully. “C’mon. You should take a break and go visit your family like you’d planned.” He produced the rest of Tyler’s luggage from seemingly nowhere and pressed the strap of his backpack into Tyler’s palm. “They’ll be fine. Now say your goodbyes, Ty.”

Tyler sighed and rubbed his free hand over his face. “You’re right. You can do this, what am I doing worrying? Ethan loves you. He’s gonna be psyched to have someone else in charge for a change. But I warn you, his puppy eyes will be the death of you, and he _will_ try to get you to change his bedtime.”

Mark huffed a soft laugh and stuck his head into the living room. “Ethan! Come say bye to Daddy before he leaves for the airport!” Two heads swiveled towards the doorway to the hall.

“Comin!” Ethan squeaked, scrambling to his feet and leaving Jack to sit and gum at a block in confusion.

An indulgent smile crossed Mark’s face as he strode quickly over to Jack and propped him against his hip with a little grunt. “Come on, you little monster. Let’s go say bye bye to Tyler, hm?” he ran a hand through soft green locks and nuzzled at Jack’s neck, causing him to giggle and drop the drool-covered block.

Tyler bent slightly so he could be face to face with Ethan, putting his things down to hug him tightly. “You be a good boy for Mark while I’m gone, okay?” he murmured into Ethan’s hair.

Ethan nodded brightly. “M’kay, Daddy! Promise. I’ll eat my veggies an’ everything!”

Tyler laughed and kissed his cheek. “That sounds great, munchkin. Now remember, if you need Daddy for anything, just call his cellphone, okay? I should be available in a few hours.”

Ethan let go of the tight hug and nodded, bangs flopping. “Okay. Can I go play blocks again?”

Tyler nodded and stroked his cheek softly. “Sure, honey. Daddy loves you so much.”

“Love you!” the Little called over his shoulder, already hurrying back to his blocks so he could build something before the baby came back.

“Brought you a Jackaboo t’say goodbye,” Mark piped up, shaking his head fondly at Ethan’s antics.

Tyler turned towards the pair and leaned in to kiss Jack’s cheek. “Bye, baby boy. You be a good little bug for your Daddy, okay?”

Jack giggled at the kiss and reached his arms out.

“You want a bye bye hug?” Tyler asked, and the baby nodded sweetly. “Alright, bud. C’mere.” He murmured softly, letting Jack cling to him for a bit and rubbing his back. “I won’t be gone for long, Jack,” he soothed, surprised the baby seemed to be missing him already. This far, Little Jack had clung to Mark, and been favorable to Tyler’s cuddles when Mark wasn’t in reach, but never blatantly and outright asked for Tyler. Jack made a little sad hum and hugged him tighter. He’d never say it out loud, but it made Tyler feel a lot better knowing that a sweet baby would miss him while he was gone. “Alright, honey. You gotta go back to your Daddy. Ty Ty has to go to the airport now,” he said, and let Mark take Jack from his arms.

“I’d hug you, but my arms are full,” Mark teased with a bright smile.

“Oh, shut up,” Tyler retorted, and hefted his backpack onto his shoulders, grabbing the handle to his suitcase. “Right. Well, you guys have fun while I’m gone. But not too much fun.” He spoke, and gave a little wave with his plane ticket as he disappeared out the front door.

Mark carried the baby back into the living room and set him down, surveying the situation. Chica was curled up taking a nap in the corner, Ethan was rebuilding his tower, and Mark was hungry. He checked his watch. Suitable enough to start an early lunch. He walked over to the coffee table and picked up the remote, turning on something baby friendly and handing Jack a teething ring. “Here. You watch tv and don’t bother Ethan’s tower anymore. He’s trying to build something big, right Eth?”

Ethan grinned. “Gonna have a knights and dragons fight later!” He pointed to his stuffed dragon and his action figures lying scattered around him. Mark was glad the baby hadn’t gotten to those yet, or Ethan would have thrown a fit to come back and see one of his knights in Jack’s mouth.

“Sounds good buddy. I’m gonna go make us something to eat, okay? If you need me, just come in the kitchen.”

“Mkay!” Ethan chirped happily, going back to building onto his tower. Mark was impressed. In the few minutes he’d had, he’d managed to construct something that actually resembled a keep.

Mark took one last look at Jack and finding him suitably placated with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, he went into the kitchen to find something he could make that was kid friendly. Soon, he had a suitable table set, with mac and cheese, water and grapes for Ethan and mac and cheese for Jack. “Food’s ready!” he stuck his head into the living room and Ethan immediately started moving. “Ethan, go wash your hands and go potty, okay?” he told the little one, while he picked up Jack and let the baby cling to him happily.

Mark watched until Ethan had left, then carried Jack into the kitchen and sat down with him at the table, heart warming at the soft coo Jack gave and the gentle nuzzling at his shoulder. “You ready for some lunch, baby boy?” he asked, and angled Jack sideways, kissing the baby’s cheek. Jack nodded and chewed at his teething ring some more. “Alright, baby boy. Gimme that,” he took the ring away and Jack whined softly. “Hey, you’re gonna get food,” Mark replied, as Ethan clambered into his chair and picked up his spoon and started eating. “Eth, blow on it, it’s hot,” he directed, as he scooped up a bite for Jack and began to feed the baby. “Good boy, Ethan.” He praised as Ethan started to blow on his mac and cheese. Mark was feeding Jack because he knew that if he didn’t, he’d end up with a messy baby and he didn’t want to have to bathe him before it was time. Any hitch in his routine and Jack would be up all night.

Once he’d gotten Ethan to help put the dishes away, they returned to the living room together and Mark sat down in the floor to watch Ethan play and to cuddle with a full and sleepy Jack, who was fascinated with his toes. Mark giggled and watched Jack examine his feet, as Ethan chattered away happily to his stuffed dragon and planned an attack on the green knights. “Those are your toes, baby boy,” he murmured quietly. “You’ve got ten of ‘em,” Mark explained in amusement. Jack looked up at him and made a little questioning sound as he continued to grip at his toes. “Yeah,” Mark cooed. “Ten whole toes on your feet.” He booped the baby’s nose and Jack giggled.

After dinner, Mark managed to get Ethan to pick up all his toys, and the three of them bundled onto the sofa to watch Disney movies until bedtime. He let Ethan pick one and then helped Jack pick one out to be fair. Once he caught Jack starting to gum at his fingers, he stood up and set Jack back down beside Ethan. “I’m gonna go make Jack a bottle real fast, do you want anything, buddy?”

Ethan hugged his dragon closer and looked thoughtful. “Um. Juice?” he asked hopefully. Daddy didn’t let Ethan have anything sugary after dinner, but maybe Mark would!

Mark shook his head. “Nice try, half pint. You know your Daddy doesn’t let you have juice after we eat. You c’n have milk or water.”

Ethan pouted over Mable’s fluffy head, one hand absently patting the dragon’s soft fur. He wanted apple juice! “Water. But in my Mickey cup.”

“Mickey Mouse cup, coming right up!” Mark rhymed, drawing a begrudging giggle from the pouting Ethan.

Satisfied the two would last a few minutes by themselves, Mark sauntered into the kitchen and started to make Jack a bottle, getting Ethan’s cup from the cabinet. Chica trotted over and nuzzled at his leg affectionately, wagging her tail. “What is it, Miss Chica? You need outside? Hmm?” he asked, and she let out a soft yelp. “Alright, pup. Just a minute,” he set down the milk and strode across the kitchen to open the door, letting her scamper outside. Returning to the countertop, he finished up making Jack’s bottle and set it to warm, before filling up Ethan’s sippy cup.

Soon he had two Little ones clambering to share space on his lap as they received their drinks. Shifting, Mark opened one arm to Ethan and the other to Jack, letting them lean against him as they had their drinks. “Ethan, I want you to try and use the potty after the movie, okay bud? Don’t want any accidents.”

Ethan blushed and squirmed nervously—he had forgotten that Daddy would be gone for two whole days! That meant his night night routine would be all wrong if Mark couldn’t figure out how to help him. “M’kay,” he whispered around the spout of his cup, and let out a delighted little squeak as Mark kissed his head.

“Good boy.” Mark held up Jack’s bottle further, and Jack let out a little sleepy sigh around the plastic. “I think Jack might not even make it until the next movie.” He noted. “But, that just means a certain little boy gets extra cuddles from me if the baby falls asleep.” Mark was eager to make sure that Ethan didn’t feel lost or alone without Tyler in the house. The handful of times he’d been little with Mark around were times when Tyler was there too, so the two of them hadn’t ever really interacted like this alone.

“Me?” Ethan asked, hoping.

“Of course you, silly!” Mark smiled. “Jack might be my baby, but every Daddy has room in his heart for other little boys.” He explained patiently, as Ethan began to melt further into his side, losing all his nervous tension at Mark’s reassurances. By the time _Cars_ ended, Jack was fast asleep and Ethan was starting to rub his eyes. Mark patted Ethan’s shoulder. “Can you move over for a minute, buddy? I’m gonna go put Jack to bed, and then you and me can watch another movie together before it’s bedtime. How’s that sound?”

Ethan chewed at his thumb. “Sounds good.” He murmured with the barest yawn.

“Alright, you sit tight, bud. I’ll be right back.” Mark announced.

Jack didn’t stir as Mark got him changed into a clean onesie and diaper. The little one was deeply asleep. Tucking him into bed, Mark clipped a paci to his onesie and let Jack latch onto it before putting his blankie and Denny into bed with him as well. He didn’t want any chances that the baby might try to climb out of bed looking for a comfort item and hurt himself. It had happened before and frankly it was harrowing for all involved. Smiling, he kissed the baby’s forehead and tiptoed out the door and down the stairs.

When he reached the living room, Ethan was sprawled out on the sofa, bright blue pacifier between his lips and hugging Mable. He’d managed to sort of wrap himself in one of the many blankets they kept around the room, and his eyes were half lidded. Mark smiled. “Hey, baby boy,” he greeted softly, moving back towards the sofa. “You ready for those cuddles?”

Ethan looked up lazily, holding out his arms with a little insistent grunt. Mark scooped him up, blanket and all and tucked him to his chest as he sat down. “Did you pick us a movie?” he asked, and Ethan nodded. “Which one?” he prompted.

Ethan used one hand to push his paci to the side. “Bug’s Life,” he responded, sucking at his pacifier once more.

The pacifier surprised Mark, as Ethan was normally a good deal older than Jack. At three or four normally, he’d assumed Ethan just wasn’t one that used a pacifier, but knowing Tyler he should have assumed that he’d buy things for every age his baby had ever been just in case. Mark hummed and pressed play. “That’s a good choice, munchkin.” He murmured, rocking Ethan slightly. “Ethan,” he asked, “Do you always use a paci at night?”

Ethan curled into Mark’s warmth and sighed softly. “Just t’sleep,” he slurred tiredly. “Don’ wike durin’ day.” Noting the differing speech pattern, Mark smiled deeper. Sleep must bring out lisps in Little Ethan’s speech. It was goddamn cute. It was also typical of Ethan not to want anybody to really see anything babyish about his behavior, being such a big boy and all. At first he hadn’t even wanted Mark to really know abut his Pull-Ups, because he felt like they were too close to diapers and Mark might think he was a baby. But being the only Little in the house all of the time, he’d quickly learned that Mark would find out about most things.

Mark continued to rock the sleepy boy. “Well, I hope you know that doesn’t at all make me think you’re not the big boy I know and love,” he reassured, loving the look of pure awe Ethan gave him as he looked up over Mable’s head. Mark kissed Ethan’s head and the two passed companionable silence for the rest of the movie, Ethan fighting sleep every moment of the way. Once credits rolled, Mark took him up the stairs, and the repetitious motions had him out like a light.

The next morning, Mark woke up earlier than normal, frowning. He was _hot._ Like, sweating bullets kind of hot. He yawned and blinked awake, only to find two very little boys plastered to either side of him. Welp, that explained the temperature problem. He took stock of the situation. Ethan was deeply asleep beside him, sucking at his pacifier and cuddling half with Mable half with Mark’s arm. He smiled and turned to look at Jack, who was already staring at him with big sleepy eyes. “Hey, baby boy. How’d you get here, hmm? Did Ethan bring you?” Jack gave a tired hum and nodded, making grabby hands at Mark. “Baby, Ethan’s still asleep, Daddy can’t hold you yet.”

This did _not_ go over well with the sleepy baby. He looked like a kicked puppy, chin quivering as his eyes welled up. Mark cursed softly and reached out his free arm to try and tuck Jack to him before he started to cry, but no such luck was his. In all of two seconds he had a wailing baby on his hands, and a sleepy confused toddler. Sitting up, he curled Jack to him, letting him press his forehead into his neck as Ethan rubbed his eyes and spit out his paci. “Unca’ Mar’?” he lisped blearily, big eyes looking not pleased at having been woken up.

“I’m sorry, munchkin.” Mark responded, heart warm at the nickname. Ethan hadn’t ever called him ‘uncle’ before. “But Jack’s just cranky this morning because he doesn’t want to share his Daddy.”

Ethan picked up his paci again and put it in his mouth, crawling up to press against Mark’s free side. “Didn’ wanna share Daddy either, when ‘ou went ‘way.” He mumbled around the plastic, still obviously _very_ tired.

“Well it was very nice of you to share your Daddy with Jack,” Mark assured him and smiled over Jack’s heartbroken sobs. “You’re such a helpful boy, Ethan. Such a good boy.”

Ethan beamed sleepily and let his head rest against Mark’s shoulder. A few more moments of coaxing by Mark and Jack had stopped crying, sobs dissipating into hiccups. “Ethan, are you hungry?” he asked.

Ethan nodded. “Puffs?” he asked, muffled by his paci.

“Yeah, you can have some Cocoa Puffs. Go on and go downstairs, I gotta change the baby real quick,” Mark murmured sleepily. “But don’t touch the cereal until I get there.”

Mark got Jack cleaned up and propped him on his hip before sauntering downstairs to find Ethan playing with Chica. He looked up from the floor and gave a grin around his paci.

“Hey there, Eth,” Mark cooed, as Chica wagged her tail and pranced around Mark, licking at Jack’s bare toes. Jack whined and gripped at Mark’s shirt. “Chica down.” He commanded, and Chica immediately ceased and went back over to Ethan. “Ready for some breakfast, budd?” Mark asked Ethan, who nodded happily and clambered up into a chair, taking out his paci and holding it out to Mark.

Mark took the item and put it near his place, before moving around and gathering up the breakfast supplies one handed, giving Ethan a sippy cup of milk and a bowl of dry cereal. “Eat up, squirt.” He eased himself down into his chair and put Jack in his lap, giving him a bottle. With his free hand, Mark nursed his travel mug of coffee, trying to wake up some more. At his elbow, his phone buzzed.

**_Hey, how are things?_ **

It was from Tyler. Mark put down his coffee and tapped out a reply.

_We’re fine. Ethan’s having his cereal and Jack’s cranky._

**_So, a normal morning, then?_ **

_Yeah, normal morning. When will you be back?_

**_Tomorrow afternoon probably._ **

_Sounds good._

**_If anything happens, call me._ **

_Can do._

“Done.” Ethan chirped a moment later, and Mark scrutinized Ethan’s bowl and cup.

“How ‘bout you eat a few more bites and drink all your milk, and then you’re done?”

Ethan seemed in a good enough disposition to oblige today, and gave a nod. “M’kay, Uncle Mark.”

In the end, Mark decided that they all deserved a lazy day, and he didn’t even bother to change the kids out of their pajamas. He just bundled them all onto the sofa and let them crawl all over his lap while a movie played in the background. A half hour in, Ethan’s pacifier appeared again, and Mark was pleased that he was comfortable enough now to use it when he wasn’t about to go to bed.

The next day, the Littles wanted to build a blanket fort, so Mark happily obliged and they (though this time not in their pajamas) took a second day to just chill and be comfy. And that was how Tyler found them all: curled up like puppies. Ethan was dozing and Jack was looking around with wide and curious eyes.

“Hey there, kiddo,” Tyler greeted softly as he knelt down and crawled into the fort. Jack reached out and Tyler obligingly kissed his fingertips. “Ethan,” he reached over Mark. “Hey, wake up.” His brows went up as he noticed the pacifier. “He’s been using it around you? Usually he thinks he’s too big. I’m surprised.”

Mark hummed and nodded. “Yeah. He has,” he watched as Ethan stirred himself awake and immediately noticed Tyler, crawling over to him and curling around him like a little octopus.

“Hey, Lil Bear,” Tyler crooned, as Ethan hummed happily behind his pacifier. “Didja miss me?”

Ethan smiled sleepily around his pacifier and nuzzled into Tyler’s neck. “Daddy.”

“Yeah, honey. Daddy’s back.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ty and Eth are down with the flu. Mark takes care of them. Jack's jealous that someone else gets Mark's cuddles when he can't.

 

Ethan coughed once more and shuffled his way down the hallway, clutching Mable to his chest and looking absolutely pitiful as he leaned against the doorway to Mark’s room and whined softly.

Mark looked up from his computer and gave a low hum of sympathy. “What are you doing up? You’re supposed to be in bed, like a good boy,” he coaxed as he stood up, going over and letting Ethan twine his arms around him.

“Cuddles.” He demanded grumpily, trailing into a whine.

“I can give you cuddles for a little bit, baby boy, but then I gotta check on your Daddy, okay?”

Ethan seemed perfectly fine with that route, and let himself be picked up and carried to his room again.

“What happened to your paci, lil guy?” Mark asked as he set Ethan back into the nest of blankets. He picked up pillows and looked around before finally finding the blue object. “Aha! Hang tight bud.” He addressed Ethan’s hoarse whines and grabby hands. “You hold on a minute, this has been under the bed and now it’s yucky. I gotta rinse it off first.” He went across to the spare room Jack usually occupied and grabbed a paci wipe from the pack on the shelf, wiping it off and tossing the used wipe into the garbage can.

Seeing the empty room made his heart hurt that he couldn’t have his baby there all the time, so he shut the door behind him as he went back to the Little he could actually cuddle. “There we go. Open up, buddy.” He stuck the paci into Ethan’s mouth and sat down on the bed. “You want Uncle Mark to cuddle you for a lil’ bit?” he cooed, and brushed sweaty bangs from the little one’s forehead as he crawled into his lap with a lethargic nod. “Alright, baby boy. You just c’mere and I’ll hold you for a while.” Admittedly, cuddling the sweet little boy (even if he was sick) was doing wonders for Mark at the moment. He’d spent too much time hunched over doing the editing, since Ethan was out of commission. Mark kissed Ethan’s head. “S’okay, dumplin’. You’re gonna feel lots better once you take more medicine soon.”

Ethan whined around his paci. “S’yucky. Don’ wan’ it.”

“Yes, you do, baby,” Mark wheedled. “It’s gonna make you feel a lot better, I promise.” Mark reached for the pre-filled medicine cup from the bedside table. “Here,” he took the pacifier and pressed the cup against Ethan’s lips. Ethan squirmed. “No.” Mark’s voice firmed. “Swallow it. You’ll get a time out if you don’t.” Ethan whimpered and opened his mouth. “Good boy,” Mark kissed his cheek. “Good boy.”

Ethan swallowed and made a face, appreciating the way a sippy cup of water appeared beneath his nose to make the gross taste go away.

“Don’t drink too fast,” Mark warned, taking the cup after a few swallows and returning his paci. Ethan sucked nervously at his pacifier, curling back into Mark’s warmth.

“You’re fine, honey. You just promise you’ll try and get some sleep for me while I’m looking in on your Daddy,” Mark scooted out from under the Little and tucked him back in. After kissing Eth and Mable goodnight, he cracked the door and headed across the hallway.

The sight that met his eyes as he entered Tyler’s room was far more different than the one in Ethan’s. He was hanging over the side of the bed with his face in the trashcan, groaning. Mark’s nose wrinkled. Stepping over to the bed, he placed a hand between shaking shoulder blades and sighed softly. “Can’t catch a break?”

Tyler moaned and pulled back to swipe the back of his hand at his mouth. “Apparently not,” he gasped. “Fuckin’ flu.” He gagged again and stuck his head over the trash.

Mark hummed. “Well you hang in there, pal. I’m gonna go grab that medicine they gave you at the doctor. Maybe you won’t barf anymore after I give you some of that.”

Tyler heaved again, pulse pounding in his ears as he heard Mark’s steps retreat to the bathroom.

Mark waited patiently until Tyler seemed like he was finished, then took the disgusting trash and cleaned it up before returning with the disgusting medicine. “Here. Bottoms up,” he gave a goofy grin, hoping to make Tyler smile.

Grimacing, Tyler threw back the red liquid, shuddering as he held out the empty cup. “Ugh, this tastes like ass, man.”

Mark laughed. “I know. That’s kinda what Ethan said, though he wasn’t profane.”

Tyler looked wistful as Mark helped him lean back against the pillows. “Thanks for the help. I’m sorry I can’t help with him. Wish I could just give him a little cuddle, but I don’t want him to see this.”

Mark hummed. “I get that, man, and he isn’t any trouble. He just needs to be put back in his bed every couple hours,” he joked.

Tyler hummed sleepily. “Mm, yeah. Thanks again, man.”

Mark patted his shoulder. “Get some rest and when you wake up, you’re getting some more water.”

After they took their medicine, both Tyler and Ethan slept for a few more hours, giving Mark time to post and edit another couple videos for his own channel. Peeking in on Ethan, he found him asleep and headed across to look in on Tyler again, water in hand. Finding him propped up and scrolling sleepily on his phone, Mark cleared his throat. “Hey. You gotta drink something, man.”

Tyler took the water and frowned as Mark stuck a thermometer in his mouth. “Slow down there, mom.” He teased, and Mark shushed him.

“Wait until that beeps to bad mouth your caring friend, who has been nice enough to clean up your puke, and take care of your Little,” Mark intoned with a teasing manner.

Tyler shut up until Mark took the thermometer.

“Take some more Tylenol.” Mark gestured to the bottle on the side table. “Your fever isn’t going down.” He moved in and grabbed a cool wet cloth from the bathroom, handing it to Tyler. “And put that on your forehead while you re-hydrate.” He stood up and went across to where he could hear Ethan stirring.

“How are you feeling, little boy?” Mark asked softly, as Ethan looked over with fever-glazed eyes and cuddled Mable.

“Awful,” Ethan croaked, taking out his pacifier.

“Feeling not so little at the moment, I take it,” Mark said, sitting on the end of the bed.

“Feel like shit,” Ethan agreed, and hugged Mable tighter.

“You wanna go see Tyler for a bit, while he’s not puking?”

Ethan nodded softly. “Gotta pee first.” He mumbled, and handed Mark Mable and his pacifier to hold. His joints felt like noodles as he stumbled into the bathroom and tugged his pants down, only to find that he’d already wet his Pull-Up once while he was sleeping. He leaned against the wall and sighed heavily, feeling his eyes well up with tears. “Mark!”

Mark put the items on the bed and went into the bathroom. “What’s wrong?” he asked softly, unsure whether Ethan had slipped again.

“I’m wet,” he said plaintively, and reached for Mark, lip quivering.

“Oh, honey, it’s okay,” Mark cooed, hugging him tightly. “That’s okay, you were asleep, you couldn’t help it.” He pulled away and brushed hair fro Ethan’s face. “Do you still need to go potty?”

Ethan nodded.

“That’s okay too, we can fix that. C’mon, step out.” He bent down and pulled the wet Pull-Up down Ethan’s legs, shushing him when he started to shift nervously.

Ethan stepped out of the garment and immediately turned to sit down and relieve himself, unsure he could handle standing up for much longer.

Mark trashed the wet Pull-Up and got a clean one from under the sink, setting it on the edge of the tub and moving to stand outside the bathroom. “Did you wash your hands?” he asked a few minutes later when Ethan had worked up the energy to redress himself and finally stand up.

Ethan nodded. “Wanna go see Ty.” He asserted, nibbling at his lip.

“Alright. You want to take Mable or?”

Ethan looked uncertain before grabbing his dragon and looking back at Mark.

“Come on, Eth.” He said quietly and gave a reassuring smile, herding him across the hall. “Ty, you have a visitor.”

Tyler put his phone down and smiled softly. “Hey, Eth.”

Ethan followed Mark and crawled up onto the bed, leaning into Tyler’s side. “Feel better?” he asked curiously, fiddling with Mable’s wings.

Tyler shook his head, giving a tired look. “Not much, bud. Are you doing everything Mark says?”

Ethan bit his lip. “Woke up wet.”

Tyler’s face was sympathetic as Mark perched on the end of the bed and patted Ethan’s foot gently. “Sorry, bud. But you know you get a pass if you’re sleeping. You can’t help it, plus you’re sick. You don’t really have the energy to get up much when you have the flu.” He patted Ethan’s shoulder. “Did it scare you to wake up Big and be wet?” he put an arm around the smaller boy.

Ethan nodded and kept staring at Mable. “I… I felt… helpless and… and I didn’t like it. I mean, on top of that I already feel like shit, too.”

Tyler hummed quietly and nodded. “You wanna stay in here for a while with me? We could watch something on tv?” he offered, able to discern that Ethan was about borderline at the moment, and he missed his baby. Had barely seen him for a whole day and a half, and he wanted some cuddles, even if they both felt bad.

Ethan looked up at Mark. “I.. um… I might want my paci later,” he flushed in embarrassment and Mark nodded.

“You don’t have to be embarrassed about that, Eth. I can get it for you if you want.” Mark stood and retrieved the paci and Ethan’s cup of water from his room, handing him the items. “Both of you, if you’re not sleeping, you’re going to rehydrate. Dr. Iplier’s orders,” he joked, giving a mock stern face.

Ethan simply lay his head against Tyler’s shoulder and allowed himself to relax. He hadn’t known he was storing any tension, but now that he was with Tyler again he could see that he’d been worrying about him the past few hours. It was nice, to just sit there quietly as Mark left, just taking in each other’s company. “Mark says you’ve been puking,” he started hoarsely.

Tyler grunted. “I’ll spare you the dirty details, but it was a rough few hours. You had any stomach trouble yet?”

Ethan shook his head. “Just fever and aches and pains mostly.”

“When’d you last take Tylenol?”

“Bout five thirty.”

Tyler reached for the bottle and dumped out two pills, handing them to Ethan. “Take these now.”

Ethan’s brain went sort of fuzzy, at having Tyler fuss over him. Automatically, he moved to get his Mickey cup and down the pills, curling closer to Tyler. He was almost Little again, at just that simple action. “Did it.” He hummed.

“Good. It’ll help you feel a lot better, Eth.” Tyler murmured, running a hand through Ethan’s hair. Ethan cooed quietly and melted into the touches, blinking slowly as the fog in his brain deepened. After a moment of quiet ministrations, Little Ethan resurfaced with wide eyes, reaching for his paci and sticking it in his mouth. “Hi, baby,” Tyler crooned hoarsely. “Daddy missed cuddling you,” he informed, as Ethan squirmed closer. “But he’s very proud of you for being good for Uncle Mark while Daddy couldn’t see you.” Ethan glowed at the praise, nuzzling at Mable. “And he’s glad you had such a good protector like Mable to keep bad dreams away.”

While Tyler spent some time with Ethan, Mark decided to check up on his own Little via their special littlespace chat.

**Daddy: Hey, baby boy! Sorry I didn’t answer your messages earlier, Ethan’s sick and he needed me.**

_Baby Bug is typing…_

Mark bit his lip. Those little dots appeared and reappeared several times, and he still wasn’t sure whether or not Jack was Little or Big.

**Baby Bug: Ethan’s not your baby, I am!**

It seemed as though the thought of Mark taking care of another Little was too much for Jack right now. He sighed.

**Daddy: I know, Bug. And you’ll always be my Lil Bug. Just, Ethan and Tyler both have the flu right now, and they can’t do a whole lot for themselves.**

**Baby Bug: No! You’re MY Dada, not his!**

**Daddy: Bug, you know we don’t throw temper tantrums. If you’re going to be mean about Daddy helping out your friend, then you deserve to sit in the Time Out Corner.**

Mark felt bad about threatening time outs, especially since he couldn’t be there physically, but his boy wasn’t going to be a brat about something that was a good thing.

_Baby Bug is typing…_

Mark took a deep breath. He’d owe his baby big time after all of this. LOTS of cuddles and spoiling when he came back to visit.

**Baby Bug: M’sorry, Dada. Don’t wanna be mean, but… you’re not his Dada!**

**Daddy: Do you think this isn’t about Ethan so much as the fact that Ethan’s physically HERE to get my cuddles, and you’re not? I’m not mad, Bug. Daddy understands how hard it is to not be here. ‘Cause he misses his Lil Baby Bug so much ALL he wants to do is pick him up and cuddle him.**

**Baby Bug: Wanna be there with you!**

**Daddy: I know, Bug. But I bet we can find time soon for you to come over. But either way, that isn’t an excuse for you to be mean about me taking care of your sick friend.**

**Baby Bug: Can I have ALL the cuddles, when I gets there?**

**Daddy: ALL of them. One thousand percent of them for my Jackabug. Plus forehead kisses.**

**Baby Bug: Okay, Dada. Not mad anymore.**

Mark chuckled to himself and shook his head, large smile blooming on his face.

**Daddy: You’re a good boy, Bug. Now go to sleep for Daddy, it’s late where you are! Daddy promises to call you when you get up.**

**Baby Bug: M’kay. I love you, Dada.**

**Daddy: I love you too, Bug.**

Mark slid his phone back in his pocket and went upstairs to check back in on the invalids. They were both asleep, Ethan looking cute as a button sucking on his paci and cuddling with Mable, while Tyler had his arm around him protectively.

He closed the door quietly. For now things had calmed down.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ethan's between headspaces and he isnt' happy. Cue Tyler being a good Daddy.

Ethan couldn’t explain it. He was exactly between headspaces. He’d gone in for a nap Little and woken up sorta Big, but not really. He’d panicked because Mark didn’t know he was Little, even though Tyler was his Daddy.

He sat up further and ran a hand through his hair, shuddering as a few tears came from his eyes again. He just wanted his blankie and his paci. Ethan’s chin quivered again and he felt all the tension return to his shoulders as he drifted towards his Big headspace. Ethan whined softly to himself and grabbed his phone, texting Tyler in their IM.

**Baby Bear: Daddy, help!**

Tyler responded immediately.

**Daddy: What’s the matter, baby boy? Are you hurt? Is everything okay?**

**Baby Bear: Mark came back and I was sleeping and was Little and woke up and got scared and hid everything but I can’t stop crying, Daddy! I’m scared!**

**Daddy: Awh, Eth. It’s okay little guy. I bet you he didn’t see anything. You’re gonna be okay. I’ll be back home soon, and then Daddy’ll give you all the cuddles you need. It’s okay to cry, though. Just don’t make yourself sick.**

**Baby Bear: I hate being so in between, I just want cuddles, Daddy!**

**Daddy: I know, honey. Just wait until I get home. You can have all the cuddles.**

Ethan squirmed uneasily and whined. He just wanted to have his Daddy back right then!

**Baby Bear: Daddy, I don’t feel so big as usual.**

**Daddy: Well how old are you, baby bear?**

**Baby Bear: Feel real small. Lesser than three.**

Tyler laughed to himself.

**Daddy: Lesser than three, hmm? Well, that’s okay, baby. We’ll get you into some cozy jammies and we can just cuddle until bedtime.**

**Baby Bear: Get home now!!**

**Daddy: Don’t be impatient, honey. Traffic takes time.**

Tyler reminded his little one that it’d take a while for him to get home, shaking his head. But it had been a long day, and he looked forward to cuddles with his baby.

He was pretty sure he broke about two laws on speeding on the way home, but he was a little worried about Ethan. Stepping quickly up the stairs, he slipped into Ethan’s room and closed the door. “Hi, baby,” he murmured, as Ethan launched himself off the bed and came over for a hug. “Did Mark scare you?” he asked as Ethan nodded against his shoulder. Ethan whined. “Well, it’s okay, honey. Daddy’s home now. Let’s get you into some clean jammies, then,” he cooed, and Ethan ran to get his bear pajamas. “Alrighty, Mister Ethan,” he sang, undressing Ethan quickly. “You step into this,” he murmured, holding out a clean Pull-Up. Ethan stepped in and let Tyler dress him before reaching out to him.

“Up,” he begged, and Tyler happily obliged.

“Don’t you worry, baby boy. You get all of Daddy’s cuddles.” He murmured, picking up Ethan’s paci and handing it to him. Ethan happily put it into his mouth and curled around Tyler.

Tyler petted his hair softly. “Let’s see if we can’t cuddle until you figure out which headspace you’re in.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack's over to visit and has a sudden trauma based drop in headspace. Lucky he's got good friends and an even better Daddy to help him.

Jack had been big for nearly the whole week, and Mark had relished spending time with his friend, joking and laughing and playing various games together. However, he was just waiting for Jack to slip. He hadn’t been Little in a long time, and Mark was just waiting for something that would push him over the edge; but Jack seemed to be holding strong.

“I’m gonna go take a shower,” Jack murmured and pushed himself off the sofa, running a hand through his hair.

“Mkay,” Mark murmured, continuing to scroll through Netflix to pick something to watch.

A few moments passed as Mark finally settled on a nature documentary, listening to Jack ferry toiletries and clothing items back and forth from his bedroom to the bathroom, Ethan dozing lightly on the floor as Tyler played tug-of-war with Chica using one of Mark’s old socks. Suddenly, there was a loud thump followed by a louder cry, and Mark shot upright. Ethan jerked up, looking around panicking, as Chica hopped and ran up the stairs. Tyler looked over to Mark, who immediately sprinted up the stairs. “Jack?” he called, knocking at the door. “Jack, open up, are you okay?” he tried the door, only to find out that it was unlocked. “Jack, I’m coming in!” he called, as Tyler and Ethan came up, holding Chica back from entering the bathroom. He waved them off and made his way inside, closing the door behind him. “Jack?” he asked, heart in his throat as he took in the scene before him. Jack was tangled up in the shower curtain, ugly looking bruise blossoming over his eye. “Jack, are you alright?” Mark asked softly, and Jack curled into a sitting position.

“F-fell getting shampoo,” he whispered, lip quivering as he pressed his hand to his eye.

“Lemme look at that,” Mark murmured, leaning forward to turn off the shower so Jack wouldn’t be looking up into the water anymore. He cupped Jack’s face gently. “Mm, you’re gonna have quite the shiner for a few days, bud. But you’re alright.”

Jack’s hands shook and he reached up to grip at Mark’s wrists with a plaintive whine.

Mark bit his lip and shushed him. “Just a second, honey.” He stuck his head out the door, cracking it only enough to let his face be seen. “Ty?” Ethan had disappeared with Chica, but Tyler was hovering worriedly still. “Need you to get me an ice pack from downstairs, please.”

Tyler nodded worriedly and headed downstairs.

Returning to Jack, who was crying now, Mark reached out and hugged him tightly. “Shh. It’s okay, bud. Ty Ty went to get you an ice pack to make it feel better, and Daddy’s gonna finish up giving you your bath.” He cooed, and plugged up the tub, starting the water again. Jack whined and squirmed, impatient as he reached for Mark. “Honey,” Mark tried. “I gotta get you clean first, baby boy.”

Tyler knocked softly and entered, shutting the door behind him as he held out the puppy themed ice pack, sitting down on the side of the tub. “Here, Jack. Hold still. This’ll make your eye hurt less. When you get out of the tub we can get you some Tylenol and it’ll make the hurt go away.” He ensured, as he pressed the ice pack lightly to Jack’s black eye. Jack whined and squirmed as Mark attempted to wash his body, Tyler crooning soft encouragements to the Little.

Between Tyler’s distractions and Mark’s quick work, they had Jack cleaned up in record time. Tyler went out and grabbed fresh clothes for Jack while Mark poured some liquid Tylenol for Jack and managed to get him to drink it. Together, they got him dressed and then Tyler went to get his blanket and his paci while Mark took him downstairs.

Mark bundled the clingy boy onto his lap while Ethan looked up curiously from the armchair. “Is he okay?” Ethan asked worriedly.

“He’s fine,” Mark pushed damp bangs off Jack’s forehead. “Just a black eye and a good scare. Got him some Tylenol and Tyler iced his eye for him so he should be feeling better soon.” Jack whined and squirmed closer as Tyler appeared and handed off Jack’s comfort items to Mark. “Here,” Mark murmured, putting the paci into Jack’s mouth and letting him cuddle up to his blankie.

Ethan hummed. “S’good he isn’t hurt more.” He ruffled Chica’s ears and picked up the discarded sock, offering it to her. “Wanna play some more, girl?” Chica wagged her tail and engaged Ethan in another bout of tug-of-war, as Tyler sank down into the sofa opposite Jack and Mark.

Mark spent a few moments just cuddling with Jack, petting his hair before he reached up and put on a movie. Ethan sat up and turned his eyes towards the screen, while Jack bit by bit uncurled from Mark’s shoulder and became absorbed in _Ratatouille._

Tyler’s lips quirked-- this movie never failed to bring Little Ethan to the front, even on Ethan’s biggest days. He watched as moment by moment Ethan’s mannerisms began to change. By twenty minutes in, Ethan was nibbling at his thumb and watching with wide eyes as the little rat on screen lived out his dreams of being a Parisian chef. Tyler stood up and scooped Ethan up.

“No!” Ethan protested.

“Let’s go get you changed and grab Mable, hmm?” Tyler nuzzled at Ethan’s neck, making him giggle despite his protestations. “Won’t be long, baby.” He assured, and true to form they were back in moments, Ethan wearing his bear onesie and carrying his dragon. The hood was pulled up so that the face of the bear was smiling at Mark and Jack as Tyler eased Ethan back down to sit on the floor. The bright blue of his paci peeked out of Tyler’s jeans pocket as he sat back down in his chair, and a minute later Ethan was making grabby hands at him, little insistent noises coming from him as he begged for the object. “Not unless you use your words,” Tyler stated, taking the paci from his pocket.

Ethan squirmed and whined. “Daddy, want!”

“Want what, Ethan?”

“Daddy, paci, please!” he whined again, making grabby hands once more.

“Alright, baby boy. But only ‘cause you’re so polite,” Tyler responded dryly, and Mark chuckled. Ethan took his paci and stuck it in his mouth, curling up on the floor into a little ball and hugging Mable to his chest. He was warm and cozy in his onesie, and the movie was comforting to him.

By the time the movie was over both Littles were asleep. Mark stopped the movie and turned to look over at Tyler, only to find him dozing lightly. “Well,” he murmured to himself. “It’d be rude of me not to join in on all the fun…” Mark cuddled up to Jack and shut his eyes. Might as well sleep while the babies were asleep. He’d not get much rest once they woke up.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys go to get their flu vaccinations, but Jack doesn't like it very much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Something I got muse for while driving home from getting my own shot today and feeling gross.

Jack fidgeted nervously and Mark reached over to place a hand over a bouncing knee.

“S-sorry.” He murmured, with an apologetic smile.

“That’s okay,” Mark replied, and removed his hand. Something about the way Jack had been behaving the last few minutes had him thinking. He cast his gaze over to where Ethan was sitting a couple chairs over, flipping through something on his phone, unfazed; then he moved it back to the one sitting beside him, who was nibbling at his thumb-nail. Mark cleared his throat softly. “Um, Jack? Are you afraid of needles, by any chance?” he asked softly, mindful of the others in the waiting room.

Jack looked startled by the question, quickly moving his hand from his mouth. “Wh-no!” he stuttered out, looking indignant. “I… I’m not afraid of needles, what kind of question is that?” Jack crossed his arms and leaned back in the chair.

“I was just checking, because whether you like it or not, there’s no backing out of this. You chose to come visit during flu season, and you know everyone goes to get shots whether they live here or not,” he answered lightly, examining his nails on one hand.

Jack shifted again and looked nervously over at the door as it clicked open again and the nurse called out another name. He wiped sweaty palms on his jeans and looked back over at Mark. “Um, I might be,” he finally answered. “Just…. Only a little, though.”

Mark gave him a reassuring smile. “Would it help if Ethan went first? He doesn’t have a problem with it and then you could maybe see that it doesn’t hurt that badly?”

“O-okay,” he mumbled, leaning forward in his chair and tapping his fingers against his knees.

“Hey, Eth?” Mark spoke up, and Ethan looked his way. “Do you mind going first and just getting yours out of the way? Jack’s not so sure about this.”

“Yeah, sure!” he piped up, nodding with a tiny smile. “It’s nothing to worry about, bro. You’ll be fine.” Ethan assured, and Tyler gave him a little proud smile once Jack wasn’t looking. Ethan blushed and looked back down at his phone again, a warm feeling blossoming in his chest at Tyler’s approval. Even when he wasn’t Little, he still craved it. It made him feel good.

After a bit more waiting, the nurse finally came back out to get them all. Mark stood up and patted Jack’s shoulder reassuringly as Tyler and Ethan filed in front of them down the hallway, stepping into the first exam room.

“Alrighty, boys, who’s going to go first?” the matronly nurse asked, smiling around at them all.

“I will,” Ethan volunteered, sinking down into the chair and rolling up his sleeve.

“Great!” she responded as she slipped her gloves on and grabbed a prefilled syringe. “Relax your arm for me, hon.”

Ethan shut his eyes and let his arm go limp, not making a sound as she administered the vaccine.

“And, all done!” she chirped a moment later, putting a Snoopy themed band-aid on his arm. “We’re all out of plain ones,” she explained, when he gave her a questioning gaze. Once she turned around to get the next syringe ready, Tyler made eye contact with Ethan, who seemed excited that he’d gotten the Snoopy one. He laughed quietly enough that nobody noticed as Ethan got up and sidled over to stand beside Tyler while Mark sank down into the chair.

Mark could tell Jack was still nervous as he rolled up his sleeve and presented the nurse with his bicep. He took a steadying breath and closed his eyes, wincing as the vaccine stung. In no time, Mark was being rewarded with his own cartoon themed band-aid, this time with Bugs Bunny. He stood up and looked at the remaining two members of their party. “So, who’s next?”

Tyler raised a hand. “Might as well get it over with, unless Jack wants to go.”

“Jack?” Mark looked over at the green haired boy, who bit his lip and shook his head. “Alright, then you can go last.”

Tyler nodded and scooted past Ethan and Jack to sit down and have his turn, hissing slightly as she gave him the shot.

“What band-aid did you get?” Ethan asked, peering over the nurse’s shoulder as she taped it on.

“Uh, looks like I got Tweety Bird.”

“Sweet.”

Tyler stood up and moved over to stand beside Ethan again, who was shifting from foot to foot impatiently in a way he’d come to realize earmarked his headspace. If he was normal amounts of fidgety, he was Big Ethan having a bad ADHD day. If the fidgeting was twice as bad, then he was Little Ethan. He patted his arm. “Be outta here in no time, bud.”

Jack uncertainly stepped over to the chair and sat down, shimmying one arm free of one of Mark’s borrowed hoodies and propping it up on the rest.

Mark stepped forward and placed a reassuring hand onto Jack’s shoulder, leaving it there as the nurse stepped up with a sympathetic smile. “Not a big fan of needles, huh?” she asked, and Jack looked at the plastic syringe like it was Shelob herself. The nurse patted his arm. “Don’t worry honey, it’ll only hurt for a second and then it’ll be done. Now, I’m gonna wipe off your arm with this alcohol pad first and then I’m gonna give you the shot, okay?”

Jack nodded and bit his lip, shutting his eyes and turning his head towards Mark. Mark stepped a bit more forwards, pressing his shoulder to Jack’s forehead so he could hide a little more.

“Alright honey, one, two, three,” the nurse sang, and Mark watched as the needle entered Jack’s arm.

Jack flinched and let out a little gasp, free hand clutching at Mark’s shirt.

“It’s just the vaccine that hurts, honey, I’ve already taken out the needle,” the nurse reassured, and taped a Snoopy band-aid onto Jack’s bicep. “There we go, hon. All done. You can come out now,” she teased slightly, patting Jack’s shoulder as she moved to throw the trash away.

It took a good long moment before Jack was able to uncurl himself from Mark’s shoulder, hastily wiping at his eyes before shoving his arm back into the hoodie and standing up. “Let’s go,” he practically begged, leading the way out of the tiny room and leaving the rest to catch up to him.

Thankful they’d taken care of paperwork beforehand, Mark trailed behind the others until they reached the car, Tyler already inside and Ethan leaning against the trunk while Jack stood to the other side of the car looking shaken. He walked over to him and rubbed at his shoulder lightly. “Y’okay?”

“I _really_ don’t like getting shots.” His voice was weak, more of Little Jack shining through than Big Jack at the moment.

Mark made a little empathetic noise in the back of his throat as Ethan slipped into the back seat. “I know, buddy. But it’s all over now, and you did great!” he enthused, as Jack leaned forward and bumped his forehead into Mark’s shoulder, leaning against him. He wrapped his arms around Jack and held on tightly. “Now it’s over, we can go home, hmm? Just sit in the bed and pout about how much our arms hurt. How’s that sound?”

Jack pulled away and looked pensive for a moment. “Cuddles?” he asked quietly.

“Course, honey.” Mark responded, turning back to get into the car. “Now come on, get in the car. I’m sure everybody else wants to get home too.”

The rest of the car ride was silent, punctuated with people rubbing sore arms and looking incredibly pissed that they had to subject themselves to this torture, so when Mark finally pulled into the driveway everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Sweatpants and comfy shirts were calling them.

Before they went inside, Ethan turned towards Jack with a curious look. “Don’t you have a tattoo?”

“Yeah…” Jack looked uncertain.

“Well, how’s getting a shot worse than getting a tattoo? I mean like, one is several needles for a long time and the other one’s one needle for like, two seconds!”

Jack shifted. “S’different,” he mumbled, unconsciously bringing a hand to rub at where his tattoo was through the hoodie. “Don’t like the medical ones. And tattoo didn’t hurt much.”

Ethan shrugged and got out, everyone else following suit.

Everyone parted ways as soon as feet hit the floor of the entryway, heading to their own bedrooms to change clothes.

As he finished up slipping into a clean shirt, Mark heard footsteps behind him. He turned around to see Jack wearing his oversized dinosaur shirt and a pair of soft grey sweatpants, looking plaintive and very in need of a good hug. He strode across the room and wrapped him up in a big bear hug, holding onto him tightly.

Jack clung to Mark and tried to make sense of how he was feeling. His head was spinning and he’d almost dropped completely when he’d gotten that shot, but he’d pulled himself out of headspace just in time. Mark started to rub his back and he sighed, shutting his eyes and focusing on how his body felt. His arm throbbed deeply and the surrounding muscle actually hurt. “Arm hurts,” he mumbled into Mark’s shoulder, and sighed as Mark moved a hand to his hair and began to run his fingers through it.

“I know it does,” he replied. “You wanna snuggle up on the bed and watch a movie for a while? I c’n getcha some ibuprofin and an ice pack to put on there, then it won’t hurt so bad.”

Jack felt himself slip further, holding tighter to Mark and whining softly.

“You want Daddy to carry you, baby boy?” he asked, and felt the answering nod against his shoulder. Mark ignored the twinge in his own arm as he propped Jack against a hip and moved downstairs to the kitchen. Passing the living room, he saw Ethan ensconced in a fluffy blanket in Tyler’s lap, tv playing a quiet documentary about monkeys. He set Jack on the counter and rummaged around for the medicine, downing two for himself before handing Jack two and a glass of water, helping him to drink so he wouldn’t spill.

Jack loved it when Mark helped him do the small things like drink out of a lidless cup, or brush his teeth. It always made him feel exceptionally small. When the cup was removed, he reached out and flexed his fingers a few times, letting himself sink lower into his headspace, to where verbal communication didn’t take priority.

“Just a second, bug. Daddy’s getting you an ice pack.”

Jack whined until Mark turned to look at him, arching a brow. “What?”

“Unh unh.” He mumbled, and shook his head.

“You don’t want the ice anymore?”

Jack whined louder and made grabby hands again.

Mark shut the freezer and strode over to his baby, picking him up and hugging him close as Jack wrapped his legs around his waist. He kissed the side of Jack’s head and let him burrow closer. “Alright, then. Let’s just go back to my room and cuddle, hmm?”

Jack hummed softly, already feeling the weight of his Big self fading away as Mark carried him up the stairs. Nothing else seemed to matter except that his Daddy was there and his arm hurt, but that Daddy was gonna cuddle him till it felt better.

Once he’d gotten his fussy little through a diaper change (Big Jack never put them on unless he was absolutely certain he was feeling Little and Mark wasn’t there), Mark curled up beside Jack and let him toy with his fingers. He didn’t turn the tv on, because he was hoping the cuddles could get a certain cranky little boy to sleep for a while. Reaching over with his good hand, he tugged Jack’s blankie from underneath a pillow and handed it over, unclipping the paci from the edge of it and clipping it to Jack’s shirt instead. Sleepily, Jack took the paci into his mouth and curled his blanket up to his cheek, holding tight to Mark’s hand with his free one.

Mark sighed and settled into the mattress, feeling his arm ache. Maybe flu shots sucked, but at least it got him undivided cuddles from his Baby Bug. He nuzzled into soft hair and felt his chest go all warm and fuzzy as Jack curled closer. He was just too cute.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This time, it's Mark who's in his headspace, and Jack can't get into his. Mark's caregiver headspace is starting to get in the way of things, and when Jack finally comes to visit, he can't seem to get Little and let Mark take care of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two in one day! I'm feeling ambitious today. Seeing as I haven't updated in a few days, I thought it made up for it by me posting these two.

Mark hadn’t seen Jack in nearly a year, and he wasn’t faring too well. He found himself sliding towards his Daddy mindset even when nobody near him was Little. Ethan was Little fairly often, and Mark enjoyed spending time with him and helping Tyler out, but it was no replacement for taking care of _his_ Little. True, they Skyped nearly every night, but some of that Jack was Big for and when he was Little, Mark couldn’t be there to help him. As a result, he was absolutely desperate to see Jack in person. He knew Jack had been stressed out lately, and that he needed a chance to unwind, so they’d both pre-recorded a bunch of videos, and he’d bought Jack a ticket to L.A.. Trouble was, he’d been so excited for Jack’s plane to come in, he had barely slept and was up at three AM to get to the airport. Jack’s flight wasn’t due to arrive until four thirty, but he just wanted to be there early and make sure he could greet him as soon as he walked down the hall off the plane. So, he staked out a place and settled down for a nap, phone set to wake him a half hour before Jack’s flight was due.

When he finally did see Jack, an ecstatic smile broke out across both of their faces, and he ran over to give Mark a hug.

“Hi,” Jack mumbled tiredly, clapping Mark on the back.

“Hey, yourself.” Mark returned with a grin, taking one of Jack’s bags for him. Once they broke apart, the two began the trek back through the airport towards Mark’s car. Tossing Jack’s bags inside the trunk, they got into the car and began to drive home, streetlights casting orange light on their profiles as the tires rhythmically bumped over the uneven pavement.

Once they got home, they quietly made their way upstairs to unpack his things, mindful of the sleeping Tyler and Ethan across the way. Once he’d shut the door, Mark looked downright uneasy, fidgeting as he stood before the shut door. Jack tilted his head, a half unfolded shirt hanging from his hands. “What’s the matter?”

Mark bit his lip uneasily, fighting his every instinct to do everything for Jack and to just bundle him into a clean diaper and onesie and put him in bed for another few hours. He ran a hand through his hair. “Nothing, um, it’s just…” he shrugged. “I… kinda miss being your Daddy, and y’know…”

“I’m not Little.” Jack finished, canting his head the opposite direction. “You… want me to be?” he asked, not sure he could actually get there after being Big for so many weeks in a row, due to necessity. Sometimes it was harder to get work done if he didn’t suppress his Little side for a while. Even thinking about it on hard days would send him careening down into Little Jack when he couldn’t afford to be out of commission for a few hours.

Mark nodded. “I do, yeah. Just… I’ve been desperate to see you and to get to take care of you again, and… I kinda expected you to have dropped by now.”

Jack dropped the tee back into the suitcase and crossed his arms. “I’ve not been Little for a while, Mark. I just don’t know if I can even get there right now, you know? I haven’t had the time to let myself go like that, and when I have to do that it’s just harder for me to get back there again.”

“Then let me help you!” Mark broke in. “That’s what I’m here for, that’s what Daddies do, Jack! It’s my job to help you have a comfortable transition and to make sure you’re all taken care of. So, maybe at least try? Just try to let me do what I do, alright? I’ve been dying for the chance to do this.” He repeated, looking like _he_ might cry. Usually Jack was the one with all the tears on a day when he had a late flight in and saw Mark again.

Jack shifted uneasily and rubbed the back of his neck. “I just… don’t know.”

“How about we start with a bath, hmm?” Mark’s voice immediately swapped from uncertain to warm, deep, and soothing as he saw Jack’s indecision, placing a hand on the small of his back comfortingly.

Jack nibbled his lip. “Okay.” He’d never been Big for Mark bathing him before, but it wasn’t awkward. It was nice. The water was warm and he put in lavender bubble bath, being exceptionally gentle as he scrubbed airport grime off Jack’s body. Jack gave a little soft moan and let himself relax more.

Mark smiled. “I’m gonna do your hair now, okay?”

Jack simply nodded and let Mark’s fingers in his hair take away the last of his tension. He didn’t realize the water had drained out until Mark was nudging him and holding open his favorite overly large bath towel. Taking the offered hand, he got to his feet and let Mark lead him out of the tub and start drying him off, feeling awkward at not helping with anything. As if reading his mind, Mark shushed him softly, exuding warmth and comfort in every movement of his body as he cared for Jack. Once he had the towel wrapped around his shoulders, Jack looked questioningly at Mark.

“Do you want to wear your Little stuff?” he asked softly. “I got you a space themed onesie,” he enticed, and watched as Jack perked up a little.

“Let me see it.” He demanded, watching Mark scuttle off and return a moment later with a soft onesie patterned with the planets. Jack’s eyes lit up. “I want to wear that.” He decided, though he was still Big. It just made him feel really loved when Mark decided to buy him things like that. He let Mark dress him in the soft onesie and lay him down in the floor to diaper him, but it felt wrong somehow. It didn’t feel like it normally did, somehow it felt clinical and just like a routine, rather than something special his Daddy was doing for him because he loved him. He let Mark help him up and sighed heavily.

“What’s up, Jackabug?” Mark asked, frowning.

“I… just….”

“Not feeling so Little?”

Jack nodded meekly, feeling bad that he’d let things go this far and still wasn’t feeling any closer to slipping.

“That’s okay. C’mere and we can get your things and go downstairs for a bit and maybe read a book.” He picked Jack up and carried him to the bedroom before setting him down. “Go get your blanket and a paci from your bag.”

Obediently, he picked out the yellow one with the ducky on it and grabbed his blankie before letting Mark pick him up again and take him downstairs. Once they were in the living area, Mark put him down on the sofa and pointed to the bookshelf.

“You go and pick a couple books out for us to read, and I’m gonna make you a bottle, see if that doesn’t help.” He ran a hand affectionately through Jack’s hair, just the right amount of nails scraping against his scalp to have Jack’s eyes fluttering at the sensation.

Jack stuck his pacifier in his mouth and hugged his blankie to his chest, standing up and going over to browse their selection of kids books. Finally settling on two choices, he grabbed them and sat them down on the sofa beside him, curling his legs up onto the leather next to him. He shut his eyes and sucked on his paci, trying to get himself further into headspace, but it just didn’t seem to work. Frustrated, he took the paci out and threw it across the room, only to hear a throat clear behind him.

“What did it ever do to you?” Mark held a bottle in his hand as he rounded the sofa and sat down beside Jack.

“Can’t get Little,” he growled, twisting the fabric of his blanket between his hands.

“Betcha this’ll help,” Mark responded, and patted his lap.

Jack scooted over and curled up against him, Mark’s arm coming to cradle his head as he eased the bottle closer to his lips. He opened up and started to suckle at the bottle, feeling the soothing warmth of the milk in his stomach. The closeness and solidity of Mark, combined with his familiar and comforting smell had him relaxing into his hold, and before he knew it the bottle was empty and Mark was having to coax him to let it go. Jack gave a vague and sleepy protest that was meant to be words but probably didn’t come out that way.

Mark chuckled. “Hey sleepy head, you gotta let me know whether you’re Big or Little, remember?”

Jack let Mark support him to a sitting position and waved his hand in a “so-so” gesture.

“Alright, so half way, then. You wanna read something before we go to bed?”

Jack nodded and picked up the nearest book with clumsy tired hands.

“Alright, here we go,” Mark sang quietly. “What’s that, honey?” he pointed to the animal on the first page.

“Sheep,” Jack muttered tiredly.

“Very good!” Mark praised. “And what does the sheep say, Jackabug? Can you tell Daddy what a sheep says?”

Jack felt himself start to slide towards headspace immediately. He should have known Mark would do this. Every single time he had trouble being Little, or started to come out of headspace before he was ready, Mark would ask him things like this or read books like this. It was a surefire way to get him into the right mindset. It just made him feel _so small_ to have someone ask him those questions like “What does a cow say?” or to play peekaboo with him. He shifted a little bit and chewed on his finger. Mark pushed it out of his mouth and waited for him to respond. “Sheep says baa baa,” he finally whispered, reaching out to pet the soft sheep in the book.

“That’s right, Bug! How ‘bout this one?” Mark pointed to a cat and waited for Jack’s response.

“M’ow!” he lisped around his finger, which had found its way back into his mouth.

Mark laughed softly and kissed the side of his head. “Good job, baby boy! And can you tell Daddy what the puppy says?”

“’Oof ‘oof!”

“That’s right, woof woof!” Mark picked Jack up and walked over to the other side of the room, picking up the discarded paci and offering it to him instead of his hand. He took it willingly and leaned down to put his head on Mark’s shoulder. Mark rubbed his back and let the book fall out of his hands onto the coffee table as he swayed from side to side.

Jack’s hands curled into Mark’s shirt almost of their own volition, as he let the motions take him deeper into his headspace. He blinked slowly when he realized Mark was talking again.

“Can you tell Daddy how old you are, Jack?”

Struggling, he frowned and held up a hand, fumbling for a minute before whining quietly around his paci.

Mark took the hand and kissed it, before handing him his blanket back, which Jack happily curled up to his neck. “It’s okay if you’re too little to really count right now, honey. Daddy understands.” He kissed Jack’s cheek. “Daddy just missed you so much, Lil’ Bug.” He squeezed him tighter. “So, so much.”

 


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack has a nightmare!

Rough breaths scraped from his chest as Jack sat bolt upright, giving a soft groan as he twined his fingers into his hair and tugged roughly. Betrayed by his body, his chin began to quiver and he felt a few tears slip out unbidden. He braced his feet against the floor as the blanket slid off his legs, resting atop his knees as socked toes spread against the hard floor. He took another few ragged breaths and watched as the tears continued to fall, plopping softly against the floors and making a little puddle. He pulled harder at green strands as he tried to regulate himself, something inside aching painfully as he realized he was alone. _Alone._ The word bounced around his sleep-ridden brain, taunting him. Wiping at his eyes with the sleeve of his hoodie, he pulled the material closer to himself and sighed a shuddering sigh. Knowing he couldn’t go back to sleep after a dream like that, Jack curled back up dejectedly under the covers and scrolled through his phone, trying to distract himself.

 _You know,_ a little intrusive voice in his head began, _if Mark were here, he’d be doing everything he could to make sure you didn’t feel like this._

 ** _Mark’s not here!_** The other half of him snarled, and he tensed his shoulders.

_But, if he were, he’d rub your back and read you a story—_

**_Enough! He isn’t here, and that’s that._ **

Growling to himself, Jack wrapped his arms around his body and pulled the hood up, dropping his phone as he burrowed deeper under the covers and let his head drop to his pillow. “He isn’t here,” he repeated to himself. His lip quivered. “Not here,” he protested weakly, as the tears started up with renewed vengeance.

“Alone,” he whispered brokenly, Little Jack poking his head out of hiding and letting his emotions be known. He screwed up his face and sobbed into his arms.

“Jack!” a hand reached through the darkness and gripped his shoulder tightly, shaking him. “Jack, _wake up!_ ” Concerned tones filtered through Jack’s sleep filled ears, and he realized the ugly sound in the room was coming from himself. He was crying. Prying open heavy eyes, he was met with his Daddy’s concerned face inches from his own, and he reached out with a desperate sob.

“Oh, honey bear,” Mark cooed with a little frown. “It’s alright.” He gathered Jack to his chest and let him cry into his shirt. “All that jetlag giving you scary dreams, isn’t it?” he asked, as if reading Jack’s mind. He ran a hand through Jack’s hair. “Going to bed big and waking up Little isn’t fun, either hmm?”

It was only then that Jack realized that the surface beneath him was wet. He let out a little mewl and squirmed against Mark in protest—he didn’t want to make Daddy dirty.

Mark held onto him tightly and kissed his forehead. “It’s okay, Bug. Daddy can fix that too. Come on. Let’s get you all changed into something clean, hmm?” In no time he had a still crying Jack bundled into a clean diaper and jammies, blankie in hand as he carried him to his own room and deposited him into the bed. “Baby Bug,” he crooned affectionately, wiping a few tears from Jack’s cheek. “Daddy needs you to stay here for a minute while he takes care of your yucky bed, okay?” As expected, Jack let out a whine of protest and a few anxious tears let themselves be known. “I promise, honey, I won’t be long,” he reassured, and gave him his paci to keep him occupied while he left. Hurrying across the hallway, he stripped the bed down and bundled the wet sheets into a ball, nearly sprinting down to the laundry room in his haste to get back to his crying baby. Setting the sheets to wash, he hurried back upstairs and clambered back into the bed, bundling the blankets over both of them as he pulled Jack against him. “There we go. It’s okay. Daddy’s here, Bug.”

Jack sniffled plaintively and curled into his Daddy, listening to his words rumbling underneath his ear, soothing him. He wasn’t really alone. Daddy would never leave him. The thought lulled him into a peaceful sleep, expedited by the feeling of a warm and gentle hand in his hair.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ethan babysits Little Jack!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For ScreaminInsanity <3 thanks for cheering me up and believing in me.

Tyler jingled the keys in his hand as he stuck his head into the darkened living room where Jack and Ethan were playing Call Of Duty together. “Hey, I’m out! I’m gonna go pick up Mark, and I’ll be back in about an hour!” He was met with identical grunts as he shut the door behind him, shaking his head as he slipped into the car. “Don’t strain yourselves saying goodbye or anything,” he mumbled as he backed out of the driveway.

The game playing went on for another half hour before Ethan initiated a stopping point and headed upstairs to shower, leaving Jack lounging on the sofa. However, in the half hour of time it took for Ethan to take care of hygiene, Jack had slipped. Hard. Padding down the stairs, Ethan was met with the sight of a clearly very small Jack curled up on the sofa. Ethan swallowed and ran a hand through damp hair, breathing out harshly. He hadn’t the slightest idea what to do as far as watching over someone that young. Ethan fidgeted in place for a moment and tugged his phone out of his sweatpants, quickly texting Tyler.

**Ty, we got a situation.**

_What’s up?_

**Um, Jack’s Little and… I don’t know what to do.**

Ethan nibbled at his lip while the little typing bubble appeared. “Tyler, please…” he mumbled under his breath.

_Okay, first thing? Calm down and take a deep breath. You’re gonna do fine. If he’s still big enough, you can get him to change clothes himself and you won’t have to see him naked, if that’s what you’re worried about. Next you’re gonna wanna go find his paci and his blankie and make sure he has those so he doesn’t start crying. Honestly, if you just put on a movie or something I’m sure he’ll be fine till Mark and I get back._

Ethan ran a hand through his hair again.

**Um, alright. I just… no. it’ll be fine. I’m sure it will.**

_You’ll do great, bud. I gotta go. See you later?_

**Yeah. Hopefully.**

Ethan slid his phone back into his pocket and took a deep breath. He could do this, Tyler said so! “Right,” he mumbled, and stepped into the living room. “Hey,” he greeted casually, and folded himself onto the sofa.

Jack hummed around the finger in his mouth and scooted closer, putting his head down on Ethan’s shoulder.

“Not very Big anymore?” Ethan asked, and relaxed into the warmth of the presence beside him.

Jack nodded softly.

“That’s okay,” Ethan told him. “I don’t mind. Do you want your blankie, or anything?” he asked awkwardly, feeling absolutely inept and set adrift in the current situation.

Jack took a moment to think about it, but shook his head. Ethan was flummoxed. What the hell was he supposed to do?

“Um… are… you hungry? Tired? Cold?”

Jack shook his head again and burrowed closer, wanting cuddles, though Ethan wasn’t getting the message. Why couldn’t he be more like Daddy, and _offer_ cuddles?

Ethan shifted as Jack pressed closer and wracked his brains for things little babies liked. “Um. Movie?” he asked, smiling to himself as he grabbed for the remote control and brought up _Bug’s Life_ from the night before. Yeah, kids liked movies. (Also, this movie never got old, even when you weren’t a Little or in headspace.)

Jack shrugged and continued to chew on his finger, squirming until his head was in Ethan’s lap.

Ethan went absolutely still, like someone confronted with a poisonous snake, hands hovering in the air as he processed the situation. Okay, so… maybe he just wanted to be close to someone. That, he could get behind. He was totally clingy when he was in headspace, so it made sense that someone younger than him would be more in need of contact. Noticing the finger in Jack’s mouth, he frowned and cautiously moved to open the drawer of the side table, where he thought Mark kept a stash of cleaned pacifiers. “Aha!” he mumbled triumphantly, causing Jack to look up at him in curiosity. “Found you this,” Ethan explained, closing the drawer and showing Jack his green dinosaur paci with his name on the shield. Jack made a little pleased sound in his throat and opened his mouth. “There we go,” Ethan stuck it in, feeling pleased with himself for counteracting a behavior neither Daddy would accept. He felt like a real babysitter. “That’s better, isn’t it?” he cautiously rested a hand on Jack’s shoulder, relaxing more by the minute as the movie progressed. Jack became more and more of a dead weight against his knees, until finally around halfway through the movie, he was asleep. Ethan got out his phone again.

**He’s asleep on me, what do I do?**

_Nothing. Don’t ever move from that spot, ever. I’m just kidding, dude. Either let him sleep or wake him up and offer to take him upstairs for a nap._

**Do I have to um, like, change his clothes and stuff?**

_No, not unless you want to. We’ll be home soon, but until then you can either just sit there and let him nap on you, or try to get him to go upstairs._

Ethan didn’t reply, instead chewing the inside of his cheek thoughtfully. Shoving his phone back in his pocket, he shook Jack softly. “Hey, Jack? Wake up, buddy, we gotta move you. Let’s get you upstairs for a nap.”

Jack stirred and sat up, then promptly burst into tears, making Ethan jump and curse. His phone pinged. It was a message from Tyler.

_Oh, but if you **do** wake him up, do it softly and CAREFULLY! He DOES NOT like to be woken up when he’s cuddling someone, he may cry. _

Ethan growled and nearly flung his phone across the room. “Now you tell me.” He took a deep breath and then turned back to Jack. “Hey, buddy, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” he tried to soothe. “Let’s just…” he stood up and offered a hand. “How about we just go upstairs and find your blankie, hmm?” Jack sniffled and sobbed softly around his pacifier, dubiously taking the hand and letting himself be led up the stairs.

Lucky for Ethan, Chica was hiding out in Jack’s room when they got there, and provided the perfect distraction while he hunted down the coveted item. Jack planted himself in the floor and let Chica whine softly and nuzzle at his face, tail wagging as she comforted him. Ethan grabbed the soft yellow fabric and held it out to Jack. “Look at what I found,” he said quietly, feeling awful for having made him cry. Jack looked up from Chica, eyes still damp as he took the blanket and cuddled it close. Ethan sucked in a breath. “Um, do you maybe wanna go lie down for a nap?” he gestured to the bed, and Jack whined and nodded, crawling across to the bed and scrambling up onto the mattress. Ethan tugged back the covers and Jack crawled under them, catching his arm as he made to turn away. “What?” he asked, frowning. Jack tugged until Ethan finally got the message, sinking down beside him. “Oh. You want me to stay,” he mumbled, wriggling till he’d found a good position and letting Jack curl up against him. “Okay. I can do that.”

What he didn’t count on was also falling asleep. He woke to soft chuckles and someone poking him in the shoulder.

“Ethan,” Tyler murmured, and he turned groggily, with an eloquent “Wuh?”

Tyler laughed softly. “Just checking on you guys. Come on, you’ve got your own bed, and Mark wants to spend time with Jack.” Groaning, Ethan slipped from the bed and stretched, joints cracking.

“Ugh, mnh,” he complained as he followed Tyler from the room. “I now realize just how tough you guys are and would like to offer the heartiest of thank yous for being such an awesome caregiver,” Ethan shut the door and turned to face Tyler, tugging him in for a hug.

“Eth, you watched him for like, an hour.” Tyler laughed, and Ethan hid his face in his chest.

“But it was hard.” He defended himself. “I’m trying to have a moment with you, and you’re ruining it.”

“Alright,” Tyler agreed. “You’re right, it’s hard, and I’m proud of you. Also, you’re welcome for being the worlds awesomest Daddy.” He replied, patting Ethan’s back. “Now go, shower. Then we can finish the movie together.”

 


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Littles on a tour bus? What could go wrong? (Lots, apparently.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little!Jack is rarely angsty, but ooh boy he wanted to be angsty tonight, so here we go folks. Also Little!Ethan is such a pure bean I just want to smush his face. 
> 
> Prompts are still open and appreciated, please feel free to comment with stuff you'd want to see!
> 
> Enjoy,  
> firecracker

It was a new experience, that was for sure, being all bundled together in such tight quarters for so long. Ethan was loving it, taking everything in his usual stride with his usual amount if energy, bouncing around like a blue capped pinball. His bunk was stuffed to the brim with stuffed animals and blankets, a cozy little nest just for sleeping, because naturally he spent all his free time sticking his nose into other peoples’ business. Bob and Wade spent most of their time in the common space, talking or playing cards or watching movies, and Ethan bounced back and forth between them and pestering Jack.

Jack wasn’t so favorable about the current situation. He felt confined and closed in with the bunks, and Mark was super busy lately so they didn’t get to spend much downtime together. Ethan had made it his personal mission to pester Jack in all his spare time, which he didn’t mind all that much, but the stress of the situation was starting to wear on him. This time, when Ethan started up his teasing, he wasn’t so forgiving about it. Jack was messing around on Twitter when Ethan plopped down beside him on one of the benches. It was nothing more than a bit of good-natured ribbing, but his stress levels were just getting to be a little much. So he snapped. Said something he shouldn’t have, his temper just flared for that one moment of damage, and suddenly everyone was staring at him and he felt like a total heel. Ethan looked silently at him for a moment before Jack couldn’t take the staring anymore and pushed to his feet, locking himself in the bathroom.

Ethan looked across at Tyler, Bob and Wade, before moving over to the bench to join them. “What’s with him?”

“I think I know.” Tyler traded a knowing look with Wade, who looked across at where Mark was typing away at his computer. “I’ll go talk to him.” He murmured, and pushed out of his seat and over to the bathroom, tapping at the door.

“Go away.” It was muffled and quiet, like someone trying to regulate the sounds of crying.

“Hey, it’s just me, bud. C’n I come in?” Tyler asked quietly, and after a moment of consideration was rewarded with the click of the lock. The door barely opened and he stepped into the tiny bathroom, closing the door behind him. Standing squished up to the sink, he put his hands on Jack’s shoulders and rubbed softly. “Hey, what was all that about, hmm? Why’re you so upset today, Jack?”

Jack used the sleeve of his hoodie to wipe at his nose, shrugging. “Just… feel…”

“Stressed?” Tyler finished, bending as much as the almost no space would allow so he could look into Jack’s eyes. Jack nodded and Tyler hummed thoughtfully and ran a hand through Jack’s hair. “How about you go put something more cozy on and take a nap?” he suggested. He wasn’t sure that Jack really wanted Bob and Wade to see him Little yet, since they hadn’t seen him in person before. From what he understood, Mark had filled them in but they had yet to see him in headspace.

Jack shook his head. “No,”

“I think it’d do you a lot of good,” Tyler wheedled.

Jack’s lip quivered. “No,” he whimpered, feeling himself slip nearly all the way at Tyler’s caring tone.

Tyler took Jack’s phone from limp hands and stuck it in his back pocket. “C’mon, buddy. Why don’t you let me help you put on pj’s and we can get you bundled up for a nap? You can sleep in my bunk,” he added as Jack leaned forward and let his head rest against Tyler’s stomach. “There we go,” he murmured, wrapping his arms around Jack. “That’s a good boy. Let’s go get you ready for a nap and say we’re sorry to Ethan, hmm?” Jack curled his hands into Tyler’s shirt and let out a little whine. “I know, buddy. I know you feel bad, but Ethan probably feels worse since you were mean to him,” Tyler reasoned, and Jack whined again. “Come on.” He said quietly, pulling away and opening the door. Stepping backwards into the hallway, he tugged until Jack stood and followed him. Jack followed until they got to the seating area, stopping and trying to hide nervously behind Tyler, grabbing one hand into the hem of his shirt. “Go on, Jack,” he turned halfway, removing the hand from his shirt and holding it in one of his own. “Go tell Ethan you’re sorry.” He urged, smiling encouragingly.

Jack held tight to Tyler’s hand and pulled him the few steps toward the bench, shifting nervously and chewing at his thumb.

Sensing his discomfort and his nervousness, Tyler spoke up to bridge the gap. “Ethan, Jack has something he needs to say to you,” his gaze traveled across both Bob and Wade, who were looking on with understanding but curious faces, and back to Ethan, who was looking very between headspaces at the moment as he sat at the end of the bench and played with his hands. “Jack?” Tyler urged.

“M’sorry,” he whispered, looking down at his feet in shame. “Was mean an’ didn’t mean to be.”

Ethan perked up at Jack’s speech, and this time Tyler could tell he’d finally given in to his headspace. “S’okay,” he smiled a sweet smile and stood up, hugging Jack and petting his hair clumsily. “Daddy says you’re littler than me, so sometimes you can’t control your feelings very much, but I know you still love me, silly!”

Jack made a little strangled sound and clutched at Ethan desperately, the words causing him to drop all the way into his full Little self, tears making their appearance. He pressed his face into the softness of Ethan’s sweatshirt and keened, Ethan making little cooing sounds and patting his back.

“I know it was hard for you to use your words, Jack, but I’m very proud of you,” Tyler spoke up, feeling his heart melt at the sight of Ethan being so protective over Jack. The thought crossed his mind that Little Ethan was better with Little Jack than Big Ethan was, and it made him smile to himself as he moved over and tapped Mark on the shoulder. “Hey,” he said in an aside. “You’ve got someone who needs your attention over there, desperately.”

Mark looked a little startled, and peered down at his watch, cursing. “God damn it, I’m sorry man, I didn’t mean to work for so long. How is he?” he turned and shut his computer, tossing the earphones to the side as he stood up and stretched.

“Well, we just had a little exchange of mean words, but we’re patched up now and currently it’s just stress tears,” Tyler replied as Mark followed him over. “Look who’s here, Jack!” he announced, and Jack let out a large sob.

Ethan wiggled out of his grasp, intending to let Jack go to his Daddy, but to everyone’s surprise, that wasn’t what happened. Very resolutely, the sobbing Little reached for his Ty Ty rather than for his Daddy. Flummoxed, Tyler opened his arms and let Jack curl around him as he settled him against his waist, Mark looking hurt that he’d been snubbed. “What’s the matter, baby boy, don’t you want to see Daddy?” Tyler asked, and pushed sweaty bangs off Jack’s forehead.

Jack wailed loudly and Ethan flinched, sinking onto the bench and sidling up to Wade, who looked delighted to have been chosen for cuddles. He raised an arm invitingly and Ethan clambered onto his lap, letting Wade put his arms around his waist as he put his head on his shoulder. Wade beamed across at Bob, who was alternating between watching the scene unfold and trying not to gawk outright at how cute Ethan was.

“You don’t want your Daddy?” Tyler asked again, and Jack shook his head, sucking in a gulp of air.

Mark’s look of hurt increased as he reached out towards Jack. “Jack,” he tried. “Come on, Bug, let Daddy hold you. Daddy’s sorry he’s been busy today, honey, but he really does want to cuddle with you.”

Jack leaned away from Mark’s outstretched hands and let out another keening sob. Tyler shushed him softly and rubbed his back, carrying him back to the back of the bus and leaving Mark to sink down in the floor beside the others. Sitting down in the floor a suitable distance away from them, Tyler reached under Mark’s bunk and pulled out Jack’s bag, handing him his blankie. “Why don’t you want your Daddy, honey?” he asked, and rocked from side to side a little bit. Jack whimpered and pressed his blankie to his face, clutching at Tyler with his free arm tightly. “It’s alright,” Tyler reassured. “You can tell me, honey. Can you use big boy words for a second, so I can help you figure this out? You’ve got us all pretty worried, honey.” Jack coughed a little as a sob tickled his throat and rubbed his snotty nose against Tyler’s shirt. He didn’t mind. Ethan did it all the time, and Jack was clearly upset at the moment, so he wouldn’t push the issue. Several moments passed of Tyler rocking and patting Jack’s back before a very small voice spoke up, sounding absolutely miserable.

“Was busy. T-t-thought didn’t want me, s-so didn’t bug him,” Jack whispered, holding on tighter to Tyler as he felt several more hot tears burn his eyes.

“Oh, honey,” Tyler cooed quietly, cutting his eyes over to where a visibly distraught Mark was sitting, leaning against Bob’s knees while Wade stroked a hand through Ethan’s hair and told him a story about some unicorns. “Honey, I promise you, your Daddy does want you. He does. He loves you so much, Jack. I know he’s been really busy lately, and I’ll admit maybe he hasn’t handled this all in a very grownup manner, he shouldn’t have ignored you when you needed to be Little, but Mark does love you very much, okay?” he kissed Jack’s head. “Were you upset at Daddy for not spending time with you? Did it make you mad?” Jack let out another little sob and nodded against Tyler’s chest. He made a soothing noise. “It isn’t wrong to feel that way, buddy, but you shouldn’t have taken it out on Ethan. You could have come to me, or talked to your Daddy and told him that it made you feel sad that he couldn’t spend time with you.” He used the edge of Jack’s hood to dry his eyes and gave him a goofy smile, hoping to make him laugh. He was rewarded with a half-hearted smile, but he’d take what he could get. “Do you maybe want your Daddy to come over here so we can tell him that?” Tyler asked after they’d sat there for a moment and Jack had calmed down some. Jack nodded softly, but held onto Tyler tightly. “Don’t worry, honey. I won’t leave. I’ll just make him come over here.” He raised his voice. “Mark? Come here for a second, please. Jack has something he wants me to tell you.”

Mark practically flew over to the pair, desperate to understand why his baby didn’t seem to want him, and more so, seemed actually _mad_ at him. He reached for Jack, stung when he didn’t even look up, but kept his head stoically turned the opposite direction and his free arm wrapped around Tyler’s middle.

“Sit down for a minute first,” Tyler directed, and Mark sank down parallel to the pair, looking at him with hurt eyes.

“What’s wrong? What did I do?” he asked, voice full of fear.

“He thinks you don’t want him anymore because you were too busy to spend time with him,”

Tyler’s voice had a layer to it that made Mark feel about half an inch tall, shame coloring his cheeks as he rubbed a shaky hand over his face. Blowing out a steadying breath, he tugged at his hair. “I… Tyler, I…. I never… he _feels_ that way? Shit, Jack I’m so sorry buddy, I never meant to make you feel that way, I swear it!” Mark cried, restraining himself with everything he had to keep his hand from laying itself on Jack’s shoulder. “I know I’ve been busy, but… that doesn’t mean I don’t want to spend time with you. I always want to spend time with you, and… I realize I may have come off a bit harsh lately, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want you!” Mark’s voice was rough as the full implications of the situation hit him. “I… of course I love you, Baby Bug,” he coaxed. “I’ll always love you, you’re the best there is, the best Little Bug a Daddy could ask for,” Mark promised, unable to stop this time as he reached out, pleading. “Nothing on earth will ever, _ever_ change that. Daddy may have been a little bit zoned out this past few days, but that doesn’t ever mean that he doesn’t want to spend time with or cuddle his baby boy, okay? He’s so sorry for making you feel all icky, honey bear, and he promises to make it up to you with lots and lots of cuddles.” Mark put his hand tentatively on Jack’s shoulder, and Tyler gave him a reassuring (if tinged with several notes of disapproval for making the baby feel this way) smile.

A soft whimper was heard after several moments of silence, and Jack finally pried himself out of his hiding spot to fling himself at Mark, who gave a grateful little cry of his own as he enveloped his little one in the biggest hug he could give. He tried to convey all his emotions in the hug as Jack folded himself into his lap and sobbed quietly, barely noticing as Tyler patted his shoulder and moved back to the others. Rocking from side to side, he put his cheek against Jack’s hair and squeezed him tight, shutting his eyes and mentally reprimanding himself for being so neglectful of his baby boy. He should have seen the signs, should have headed this off at the pass before things escalated and got so bad.

Mark was torn from his negative feedback loop by a hand heavily patting at his cheek. He opened his eyes and looked down at a red-eyed Jack. “What, baby boy?” Mark’s voice was full of penitence. Jack patted his cheek again and Mark’s eyes crinkled as he gave a guilty but still warm smile. “Do you forgive me?” Jack nodded and Mark leaned down to kiss his nose. God bless wordless baby-speak and all of it’s cuteness. He gathered Jack into his arms more fully and rocked him from side to side before speaking again. “How about, we change into our cozy clothes and then we curl up together in Daddy’s bunk?” Jack blinked uncomfortable cry-sore eyes and nodded tiredly, propping his head against his Daddy’s chest. Daddy always knew how to make everything better.

Tyler kept his eyes glued to the mind numbingly cute exchange, feeling his heart warm as his own little dude came crawling over to sit on his lap from Wade’s. “What’s up, buttercup?” he asked warmly, brushing a hand through Ethan’s hair.

“Does Jack love Uncle Mark ‘gain?” Ethan asked, as he reached over and grabbed Mable from her perch atop the table.

“He never stopped, honey. He was just a little upset that his Daddy seemed to think that there were more important things than family,” Tyler answered cautiously, as Ethan snuggled up to him and made his heart absolutely turn into a pile of mush.

“Oh.” Ethan said simply, and rooted through Tyler’s jacket until he found his paci, sticking it in his mouth.

“You gonna take a nap, honey?” Tyler questioned, and Ethan just snuggled further into his chest with a little happy sigh. “Alright,” he agreed, and kissed Ethan’s forehead. “Sleep for a bit, but then you’re getting changed into proper naptime clothes.”

Mark finished up dressing Jack in a clean diaper and his dinosaur onesie with the hood and slipped quickly into a pair of sweats and a tee. Gesturing to the bunk, he pulled the blankets back. “Come on, Bug. Crawl in and cuddle with Daddy.” Jack crawled up onto the bed from the floor and expectantly held out his arms. Mark let out a little chuckle as he slid into the bunk and closed the curtain behind him so they could get a little privacy. “Hey,” he murmured affectionately, as the sleepy little one curled up to his side and nuzzled at his chest. “Daddy loves you,” was the last thing Jack heard before he drifted off to sleep, feeling safe with a pair of strong arms around him.

Tyler kept up a steady rhythm of side to side as the body in his lap got heavier and heavier with sleep, locking eyes with Wade over Ethan’s hair.

“Is there usually this much drama?” Wade asked, frowning.

“No,” Tyler murmured quietly. “Usually they’re a lot more well behaved, but if they go too long without slipping or if something’s got them upset then there can be quite a bit of drama.”

Bob chuckled and Tyler raised a questioning brow.

“Just, I’m imagining Ethan throwing a little hissy fit and it’s the cutest thing ever.” He defended himself and Wade chuckled.

“Honestly, I can’t wait to see more of them,” he agreed. “Ethan was such a good audience for my story telling skills.”

Tyler smirked. “Well, I’m sure we can arrange something, _Uncle_ Wade.”

Wade’s face lit up.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uncle Wade and Uncle Bob babysit the boys at a con!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is for a couple of you guys, who wanted to see more of Uncle Wade and Uncle Bob.

Jack was warm and cozy, the last vestiges of sleep clinging to his mind as he shifted. A warm pair of hands rubbed at his back where he was ensconced in a blanket, and he stilled, comforted. “Dada.” He mumbled, and he heard a soft laugh.

“Nope, sorry buddy. It’s just me,” Wade told him, brushing the hair from Jack’s forehead as he stirred awake.

Jack yawned softly and blinked up at Wade, hands clutching at his shirt. “Way?” he mumbled, frowning groggily.

“Yeah, buddy. Your Daddy went out for a while with Tyler, so Uncle Bob and I are watching you munchkins for a while.”

Jack hummed quietly and let his eyes shut again, adjusting his head to a more comfortable position against Wade’s chest.

“Still sleepy?” Wade asked, rubbing his back. Jack gave another hum in response. “How about instead of going back to sleep, we go in the other room and see what Ethan and Uncle Bob are up to?” He maneuvered Jack into a sitting position, ignoring the little whines of protest. “Nah, c’mon,” he wheedled, carrying him into the adjoining bedroom suite. “Look who I’ve got!”

Bob and Ethan turned from their coloring pages.

“Is the baby awake?” Ethan asked hopefully, holding up a nearly finished dinosaur picture. “I colored Jack a stegosaurus, Uncle Wade!” he chirped, and Wade beamed.

“I see that, champ, that’s very nice. I’m sure Jack loves it, don’t you, bud?” he watched as Jack took in the scene sleepily, sucking at his fingers. Wade carried him closer to the table and they waited for a moment before he finally gave a slow nod. Ethan wiggled happily, returning the blue dinosaur to its place on the table and picking up his crayon again.

“So. How was coloring?” Wade asked, as he sat down opposite Bob, adjusting Jack so he was sitting facing forward.

“Coloring was good,” Bob replied, adding the finishing touches to his own dinosaur—a brilliant purple and orange T-Rex. “We spent most of the time trying to pick out colors, but Ethan finally decided on blue and green, right bud?” Ethan nodded happily as he continued to color. “How was napping with the baby?” he asked, watching as Wade slid an empty sheet of paper over and picked up a red crayon, helping Jack to put his hand around it.

“He had a good nap, didn’t you, honey?” Wade cooed, as he helped to write Jack’s name on the paper. “This is gonna be for your Daddy when he gets home,” he informed Jack, who didn’t seem very interested in the current situation. “Look, baby boy, you wrote your name!” he gushed, pointing at the page. Wade put down the crayon and let go of Jack’s hand so he could clap. “Look at you, Jack! You’re so smart!”

Bob and Ethan joined in, putting down their crayons to clap for the baby.

“Way to go, buddy!” Bob cheered.

“Yeah! You did good!” Ethan chimed in, beaming.

Jack looked down at the page, then back up to the others, clumsily clapping along with them as he giggled, a smile causing dimples to come out.

“There’s that smile!” Wade cooed, poking Jack in the side, making him laugh again—it tickled!

“You done, bud?” Bob asked, pointing to Ethan’s picture.

“Uh huh! All done with Jack’s picture!” Ethan scribbled his name on the corner and held it up for approval.

“That looks great,” Bob commented, and Wade nodded. “Why don’t we put it over there on top of the sofa table so your Daddy can see it later?”

Ethan nodded and quickly scampered over from the table to reverently lay the brightly colored dinosaur on the table, coming back and clambering into Bob’s lap.

Bob put his arms around Ethan and smiled softly. “What do you want to do now, munchkin?”

Ethan leaned over and peered down at the picture Wade had begun to embellish for Jack. “What about Jack’s picture?” he asked. “Won’t Uncle Mark wanna see it too?”

Wade spoke up. “I’m just helping him out a little bit, and then it’ll be good to join yours on the table.”

Ethan seemed satisfied. “Can we play hide and seek now?”

“Soon.” Bob promised. “Uncle Wade has to finish up his and Jack’s coloring first, and then you two little monsters have to get your baths.”

Wade handed the picture off to Ethan. “Wanna go and put that over there for me?”

Ethan looked thrilled at having been given a task to do, taking the paper and running back to drop it on the table beside his own art. “Now can we play?” he bounced up and down on the balls of his feet eagerly.

Bob sighed softly, turning from watching as Jack played with Wade’s fingers. “Ethan, we gotta take baths first, remember?” Ethan pouted, scuffing a bare foot against the carpet petulantly.

“What if I give the baby his bath first?” Wade tried. “Then you can spend some more time with Uncle Bob.” Jack stuck Wade’s fingers in his mouth and he sighed. “We gotta find your paci, baby boy. It’s yucky to chew your fingers, or mine.” He stood up and propped Jack onto one hip, carrying him into the bathroom. “Here we go,” he cooed, sitting Jack down on the floor while he started the tub and dumped in some bubble bath. “You sit right there while I go get your clothes.” Cheerfully, Wade stepped back into the bedroom and rooted through Jack’s suitcase, taking out a clean pair of footed pajamas and a fresh diaper, padding back to the bathroom and smiling down at Jack. He set the clean clothes on top of the counter and reached down, undressing Jack before helping him into the tub.

“There we go,” he crooned. “All clean,” Wade toweled off Jack’s hair and got him dressed in his clean pajamas. “Now you and me can go sit together while Uncle Bob gives Ethan his bath, hmm?” Jack made excited little grabby hands and snuggled into Wade as they walked out of the bathroom.

Bob looked up as the two made their reentrance, rubbing Ethan’s back. “Alright, buddy. Let’s go and get clean. It won’t take long, I promise.” He reassured, and took a pouting Ethan’s hand to lead him into the bathroom.

Wade sat Jack down in the floor and handed him his blankie, moving to look under the sofa and crowing in triumph as he found the missing paci. “Here we go!” he wiped it off on his pants and handed it to Jack, who happily put it into his mouth. “Now we just gotta wait until Ethan gets all squeaky clean, and we can have some more fun!” Jack crawled over to Wade and rested his head against his knees, hugging his blankie to his chest. Leaning forward, Wade rubbed a hand down Jack’s arm. “You’re a good boy, buddy,” he said with a fond smile.

“Alrighty, in we go!” Bob sang, and a very naked Ethan crossed his arms and shook his head. “Ethan, it’s bath time, bud. You gotta get _in_ the tub to get clean!” Bob clarified.

Ethan’s chin quivered. “No.”

“Yes, buddy,” Bob took Ethan’s arm and tugged him towards the bath. “Look, your Daddy even packed your rubber duckies!”

Ethan went boneless, collapsing onto the tile floor, crying heartbroken sobs.

“Hey, what’s the matter, hmm?” Bob knelt down beside the little one. “It’s just a bath, bud, I just wanna make sure you’re all squeaky clean when your Daddy gets back,” he began softly. “What’s wrong, Ethan?” Bob was perplexed. He’d been fine the moment before, and all of the sudden when he’d run the bath he was freaking out. “Are you scared?” he asked.

Ethan whimpered and sat up, letting Bob give him a hug.

“What’s up with all these tears, hmm?”

“Don’t wanna bath.” He whined, and Bob laughed softly.

“What if I promise to make it fast?”

Ethan sniffled. “Mkay. Fast.”

“Deal.” Bob agreed, and deposited the Little into the bath.

Even though Bob did as promised and kept it quick, Ethan kept crying during the bath, only stopping once he’d been taken out of the bath and bundled into his clean jammies.

Bob carried Ethan into the other room and sat down beside Wade.

“What’s wrong with Ethan?”

“He just had a little meltdown over his bath, but he’s alright now, right bud?” Bob held Ethan close, letting him put his head down on his shoulder as he sniffled quietly. “Yeah, we’re alright.”

Wade reached over and grabbed Ethan’s pacifier from off the table, offering it to Bob. “Tyler left this. Said to give it to him if he got upset or sleepy.”

“Thanks.” Bob took the offered object and gave it to Ethan, who gratefully latched onto the object.

Jack patted at Wade’s knee until he turned to look at him, whining softly until he was picked up. “There we go buddy.” Wade murmured, and Jack curled up to him happily. “Now what say we all watch something together till your daddies get back?” Ethan nodded forlornly, hands loosely gripping at Bob’s shirt as he was bundled up in a blanket from one of the beds. The extra shelter provided him the security he needed to unwind a little more, eyes glued to the screen as Wade turned on the nature channel. Jack leaned against Wade lazily, absently rubbing the soft fabric of his blanket against his cheek as he sucked at his paci and watched the family of baby bears on screen. He gave a little happy sigh as Wade propped his chin on top of his head.

The rest of the evening passed with minimal tears, save for when Ethan finally saw Tyler walk through the door and burst into tears again. Tyler immediately went over to his little one, picking him up and hugging him close as he tried to soothe him. “Daddy!” Ethan cried. “I know buddy. I know you’re so sleepy, aren’t you?” Tyler cooed, rubbing his back. Mark’s voice could be barely discerned over the sound of Ethan’s crying, and Tyler had to resort to puzzling out what was happening over near the sofa as Bob and Wade said their goodbyes and headed back for their joined room. Jack seemed happy enough, waving at his uncles and smiling tiredly as they blew him bye bye kisses. It was almost a relief to be alone together again, once Mark had closed the separating door. Tyler sank down onto the sofa and let Ethan cry himself out, shushing and crooning to him as he watched Mark interact with the sleepy baby.

“Looks like you had fun tonight with Uncle Bob and Uncle Wade,” Mark murmured quietly to Jack, who hummed and snuggled into his Daddy’s arms. “Did you miss Daddy, though?” he asked, needing to hear it anyway even if the cuddles were a fair indication. Jack nodded and clung tighter, fighting a yawn around his paci. “Uh oh, it looks like it might be getting close to sleepy time for a little Baby Bug,” Mark crooned, meeting Tyler’s gaze.

“I think it might be time to sleep for all little boys.” Tyler spoke up, and Ethan wailed softly. “Baby,” Tyler petted his hair. “You know Daddy’s right behind you after he takes a shower, right? I’m gonna get right into that bed with you and then we can cuddle.” He watched Mark settle a pliant Jack into their shared bed, tenderly tucking the blankets around him. Tyler wished Ethan were as well behaved tonight. Finally, after another few minutes, it seemed Ethan had cried all his tears. “Are you ready to get in bed, honey?” Ethan gave a despondent nod. “Alright. Good boy, Baby Bear.” Tyler whispered to him, kissing his forehead as Mark disappeared into the bathroom to shower. He sat with Ethan for a bit, stroking his hair until he’d fallen asleep. It didn’t take half the fifteen minutes Mark was in the shower for him to give in to his tiredness. Tyler rose carefully and grabbed his pajamas, immediately taking Mark’s place once Mark had exited the bathroom.

Sure, sometimes bedtime was hectic, especially in a new place with a crazy schedule and lots of grown up responsibilities during the day, but at night it was worth it, Tyler thought as he curled up beside a sleeping Ethan. At least nighttime meant they could all unwind and have a chance to recharge for the next crazy day.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ethan isn't happy that Tyler is away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt fill for BluBoi, who asked for "Could I suggest a sick little jack with ethan helping out/ looking after him perhaps ? Or the other way around? Sick littles always means more hugs.
> 
> Oor mark having to handle a cranky Ethan while daddies away and jack just wants his friend to be happy and crawls over to calm him down with baby grabby hands and cuddles." 
> 
> I hope this satisfies your need for cute!

“Ethan Nestor, if you don’t stop all that pouting you’re going to end up in the time out corner.” Mark’s voice was firm as he spoke up, juggling Jack on one hip as he wrangled Chica out the door with his free hand. That done, he turned back to the living area, smiling as he felt Jack’s hands in his hair. “You givin’ Daddy a new hairdo, Jackabug?” Mark sank down into the floor before the sofa, letting Jack toy with his hair for a few more minutes before he addressed a stony faced Ethan. “I mean it, bud. You’re pushing it.” Ethan’s scowl deepened as he turned more away from Mark, effectively ignoring him. Mark gave a heavy sigh. “Last chance, Ethan. I know you’re mad your Daddy isn’t here, but being angry about it won’t help anything.” He twisted and grabbed Jack’s bottle off the coffee table, handing it to his impatient baby as he addressed Ethan once more. “You can either get over here and do something to take your mind off it, or spend fifteen minutes in time out. Your choice, but I’m gonna have to ask you to lose the attitude either way.” He propped Jack’s head up further with his elbow and let his gaze shift down from Ethan to Jack, brushing some hair off his forehead. He let his free hand drift down to rub Jack’s tummy as he drank his milk, taking a deep breath before looking back up to check on Ethan’s progress. Ethan had settled himself on his bottom facing the tv, arms crossed grumpily. “Hey, bud?” Mark spoke up carefully. “Mable’s over here with Jack and me, and I think she wants to cuddle with you.” Ethan remained unmoved for a moment, clearly torn between being cranky still and needing the comfort. After a moment of sulking he finally crawled over to the table and grabbed the dragon, cuddling her to his chest with a little conflicted whine.

Mark took the empty bottle out of Jack’s mouth, using his sleeve to wipe the little dribbles of milk from his chin. “Are you feeling better, honey?” he cooed, watching as Jack smiled softly and reached for his hand, bringing it to his mouth and chewing on his fingers. “I’ll take that as a yes,” Mark murmured. “A full tummy works wonders, huh Jackabear?” he let the baby chew at his fingers for a minute as he switched on the tv with his free hand. “What say you and I go get Ethan something to eat?” Mark stood up and cuddled Jack close, carrying him into the kitchen and sitting him down as he wiped the baby drool from his hand and poured Ethan a plastic bowl of Lucky Charms. “There we go buddy. Let’s see if we can’t cheer Ethan up, hmm?” he smiled at Jack, who reached up to be picked up again. “Yeah,” Mark crooned, propping Jack on a hip and heading back into the living room. “Ethan! Jack and I brought you some Lucky Charms, bud.” He set them on the table and let Jack wiggle himself down to crawl over to his blankie. “You wanna come eat something?”

Ethan pouted, but his tummy grumbled loudly and in the end hunger won out, scooting himself over to the table and grabbing a handful of cereal. Mark smiled encouragingly.

“There we go, bud. I bet you’re just a little hungry. Hopefully all that crankiness will wear off once you’ve had your breakfast.” At least, he hoped so. Mark leaned back against the sofa and watched the Littles: Ethan grumpily munching on his dry cereal and Jack staring at the tv as he cuddled his blankie. A large smile spread across Mark’s face as he watched his baby. “You’re too cute, bud,” he rumbled fondly, voice still recovering from sleep as he leaned forward and ran his hand over Jack’s hair.

Jack hummed and turned at the words, giving a toothy smile as he grabbed Mark’s wrist and nuzzled at his hand with a cheek. Oh, yeah. He absolutely knew he was adorable, and he wouldn’t ever let his Daddy forget it.

Mark chuckled and shook his head at Jack’s antics. “Yeah, I know you know you’re cute, bud. Just isn’t fair for you to go around abusing it like that,” he let Jack nuzzle at his fingers again, cupping the baby’s cheek with his other hand, leaning forward to kiss his nose. “I love ya, buddy.”

Ethan scowled into his bowl, grumpy that _his_ Daddy couldn’t be there to cuddle _him_. Almost before he’d realized it, his hand had moved, smashing down on the bowl and sending colorful pieces of cereal flying every direction, pushing to his feet with an irate look on his face.

Mark turned, shocked by the outburst, gathering a startled Jack close and crooning as he whined in distress. “Ethan!” he began, standing up and walking quickly over to catch the angry Little before he left the room. “What was that about, huh?” he softened a little bit to soothe Jack as he frowned at Ethan. “You know we don’t throw things, and we most certainly don’t throw food.”

Ethan tugged at Mark’s grip on his arm, little angry sounds of distress escaping his mouth as he glowered at Mark.

“Ethan, _answer me._ ” Mark’s voice was firm, brooking no nonsense as he tightened his grip a little.

Stoically, Ethan refused to speak up, feeling his older self bubbling to the surface. Snarling, he wrenched his arm free and wheeled as he headed for the door. “I don’t need your help!” his eyes flashed as he took the stairs two at a time and slammed his door shut, heart wrenching sounds of Jack’s startled crying floating up behind him. Dropping to the floor, he ripped off his pajamas angrily, throwing them across the floor and curling up into a ball, tugging at his hair as an irritated whine rose from his throat.

Mark watched him go, shushing and swaying from side to side as Ethan’s unexpected outburst caused Jack to cry. “It’s okay, Jackabug, Daddy’s here,” he crooned. “Ethan’s just upset is all, Bug. He didn’t mean t’make you cry,” Mark offered, as Chica nosed at his leg and whined. “My God, it’s like everyone wants me right now,” he lamented, staring down at her as he rubbed at Jack’s back. “Go find Ethan, pup. Go on!” He pointed up the stairs, and his smart pup took the cue, scampering up them, doggy nails clacking. Maybe Ethan would at least have Chica to cuddle until Mark could figure out how to help. He cocked his head and listened over Jack’s sobs—sure enough, in a moment a door opened and closed. Mark blew out a breath. Okay. Now just to get Jack taken care of and then he could move on to Ethan. “Come on, Bug,” he wheedled, moving back to the sofa and sitting down, cuddling Jack close. “There we go,” Mark encouraged as Jack pressed his face into his neck. “You stop that cryin’,” he murmured. “Just stop all that cryin’, silly boy. You gotta help me talk to Ethan, hmm? I’m gonna need some of your adorableness to help convince him everything’s okay.”

Ethan let Chica lick the salty tears from his face, whimpering and curling his hands into her soft fur. Letting out a whine in response, the dog laid down and lengthened herself beside him, pressing against him and nosing at his neck—one of her puppies was crying! Ethan curled up against her sadly, shivering in the coldness of the room as he draped his arms around Chica’s neck and pressed his face to her shoulder. “I’m sorry, Chica,” he mumbled. “I didn’t mean to be bad. Just… everything’s wrong and my skin feels funny and Daddy isn’t here,” Ethan attempted to explain, feeling himself edge back towards being Big again, though he didn’t want it, because then he’d have to watch Jack be Little and get cuddled and he’d have to act like it didn’t bother him. No, it bothered him. Mainly because he got jealous, even in his grownup headspace. Chica gave another soft whine, nosing at the pup’s bare skin, before looking towards the door and rumbling softly. Where was master? He could help! Carefully, she left a few licks of comfort on Ethan’s cheeks before wriggling from his grasp and pawing the door open, hurrying downstairs again. Running into the room, she made a beeline for Mark, pawing impatiently at his leg and whining loudly.

“What, Chica?” Mark asked, as a slightly calmer Jack became distracted by the puppy and made grabby hands at her. “You wanna pet the puppy, bud?” he asked, letting Jack lean out and pat her on the soft ears. Chica licked his hands, but gave another whine and scampered to the base of the stairs and back, letting out a little grumbling yowl of distress. How couldn’t he understand? One of her pups needed help! Chica tilted her nose up and yipped impatiently, running back to tug at Mark’s pant leg. It took much longer than she would have liked for him to realize. “ _Oh!_ Chica-Girl, how’s Ethan doing?” Mark stood up, and she gave a yip of affirmation, running back up the stairs as he followed, cradling a squirmy Jack--- he just wanted to play with the puppy! Watching carefully, a smile crossed Mark’s face as Chica trotted over to Ethan and nosed up to him with a comforting chuff, tail wagging. She had brought help! Ethan steadfastly ignored Mark’s approaching form in favor of curling around Chica again to hide his tears. “Here we go,” Mark murmured, letting Jack down to crawl over to the puppy. The baby gave a little coo and raised heavy hands to pat at Chica’s back, and her tail wagged more. Tilting her face, she licked at Jack’s cheeks, and he let out a little happy coo, grinning as his paci fell out to dangle by its clip. She nudged at his chin with a wet nose before giving in to the pulling hands of Ethan and turning back to him with a questioning rumble. “Chica, you’re such a good girl,” Mark crooned affectionately as he knelt down and rubbed at her back, making that tail pick up speed again. “Ethan?” he asked, frowning as he noted the half naked state of the other Little. “Are you maybe ready to use words, bud? You wanna tell Uncle Mark what’s wrong?”

Mark leaned down and dragged Jack a little away from Ethan, Chica following, and crouched down, laying a gentle hand on Ethan’s shoulder. Ethan squirmed and whined, the feeling of skin on skin a little much for him to handle at the moment. Mark removed his hand and sat down in the floor, turning so he could see both boys. “Come on, buddy,” he spoke up. “Tell me what’s wrong, and why you aren’t wearing your clothes anymore.”

Ethan whimpered and felt a few frustrated tears stain his cheeks as he scooted away from Mark. “Daddy.” He stated forlornly, goosebumps dusting his skin. Ethan shivered softly, and Mark reached around for the discarded garment, holding the jammies out.

“I know you miss your Daddy, and I know you’re upset, but don’t you wanna be warm again, buddy? Let’s get these jammies back on you, lil’ bear.” Mark murmured softly, waiting until Ethan sat himself up to move into his personal space. He gently guided the Little into the pajamas again, helping him to stand up so he could get his legs inside and zip it all up. “There we go,” he gave a bright smile and pulled the hood over Ethan’s hair. “Now. Are you gonna come down and help me clean up that mess, and apologize for making Jack cry?”

Ethan curled into the warmth of his pajamas, still feeling at odds with himself, but nonetheless reaching out for a cuddle.

“I know, buddy,” Mark soothed. “I know it’s hard for you when Tyler leaves, but you shouldn’t shut me and Jack out, buddy.” He gathered Ethan close, and cuddled him for a long moment before turning to Jack. “You wanna go say sorry?” Ethan slid off Mark’s lap and crawled over to Jack, who looked up curiously from where he’d been petting Chica. After a moment of deliberation, Ethan wrapped his arms around Jack and nuzzled into his neck.

“M’sorry I was mean an’ made you cry.” He mumbled, and Jack hugged back tightly. “You’re a good baby,” Ethan asserted, sniffling a little bit as he kissed Jack on the head.

Jack frowned. Why was Ethan crying? It didn’t matter. He just wanted him to be happy! Reaching up, he patted Ethan’s cheek clumsily and nuzzled up to his chest. Ethan hummed and swiped at his eyes, patting Jack’s back.

Mark took out his phone and took some surreptitious pictures of the cute pair, immediately texting them to Tyler.

**Dude, help me, it’s cute central station over here.**

_Ethan threw a fit, didn’t he? I was worried he’d be upset that I had to leave, and he hasn’t been little in several weeks. I’m sorry, man. Did he hit anybody?_

Mark’s brows rose in surprise. Of course Tyler read the situation right off the bat. It was _Ethan_ they were talking about.

**Yeah, he did throw a bit of a tantrum. But he didn’t hit anybody. Just threw some cereal and startled Jack into crying.**

_I’ll talk to him when I get back. Feel free to put him in time out if you think he needs it._

**I don’t think so. He’s alright now. Just gonna get these two little rapscallions downstairs to watch a movie and unwind.**

_Sounds good. Keep me updated._

**Will do!**  
  


Mark slipped his phone into his pocket again and stood up, clapping his hands. “So. I think, after Ethan cleans up his cereal, we should all watch whatever movie he wants. That sound good?”

Ethan nodded vigourously, smiling wanly as Chica licked at his cheek.

“Alright then. Let’s get to it. Come on, Jackabug!” Mark bent and levered Jack into his arms. “Let’s get down there and set up the blankets while Ethan cleans up his cereal.” He held out a hand, and Ethan took it, holding on tightly as they descended the stairs and rounded the corner into the living room.

It was almost painful, watching Ethan scamper around the floor, gathering up the pieces of cereal, but Mark had his hands full trying to keep Jack from picking any up and eating them. “You’re a good boy, buddy, thank you for doing that,” he encouraged, as he watched Ethan carry his bowl of cereal back to the kitchen. “Now come over here and cuddle with me and Jack.” He smiled, and Ethan crawled up beside him, curling into his side as Mark covered him with a blanket. “There we go. Now, what movie do you wanna see?” he asked, knowing the answer already being that it was Ethan’s pick.

“Ratatouille,” Ethan’s answer was muffled, around his pacifier which had seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

“Alrighty, Ratatouille it is, then.” Mark hit play and settled back, letting the Littles on either side of him get comfortable.

 


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ethan's overwhelmed, but cuddles from Tyler always help!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I haven't filled any prompts yet, my brain's been blegh and I've been busy with school. But I am working on them. In the mean time, have some cute baby boy and his cuddly Daddy.

Ethan pushed through his recording session, ignoring the harsh pounding in his head—a migraine was definitely forming. He’d been working too hard lately, but he had to get this video up, to finish his schedule before he could relax. However, the pain increased with each moment he kept up his game play, the music not helping either, in addition to the brightness of the screen. Growling in frustration as he died once more, he took off his headphones, cupping his face in his hands as he groaned loudly and felt several tears leak down his face. He was overworked and stressed out and in pain and collectively everything just pushed him over the edge. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been sobbing before he felt hands on his shoulders, pulling him away from his computer. Ethan fought against the hands, sobbing and squirming and crying out when he was wrestled in and held tightly to a strong chest.

“Ethan!” Tyler was shocked at how hard Ethan fought against him, and he held him close, allowing the fight to drain slowly from his body as he simply sat quietly on the floor. Once Ethan had dissolved into silent tears, Tyler let his grip loosen, pushing sweaty bangs back with a soft hand. “Somebody doesn’t feel very good, huh, bud?” Ethan let out a pitiful whine and Tyler reached up and flipped off the lights. “Is this better?” he asked softly, and Ethan relaxed a little more into his arms. “I think we’re done for today.” Ethan protested with a little whine, and Tyler pressed a palm to his cheek. “No. None of that, bud. You’re clearly sick and can’t perform. I bet you anything everyone will understand. We’ll get you all better and then you can do a live stream or something to make up for today.” Tyler propped Ethan up against the desk and reached up to turn off the computer and the cameras, bending down to scoop Ethan up. Ethan’s head lolled against his shoulder and he pressed a hand to his mouth. Tyler picked up his pace and got Ethan into his room, laying him down on the bed.

Ethan gripped at Tyler’s wrist, tugging impatiently. “Daddy.” He whined piteously.

“I know,” Tyler whispered. “I know. But let’s get you changed first. You’re gonna feel better once I do that.” He stepped over and tugged a dinosaur onesie from the drawer and a pull-up, before gently manipulating Ethan’s unresponsive limbs out of his clothes. “Gonna get you all nice and cozy here in your bed, then I’m gonna get you some medicine from the bathroom.” He worked the onesie onto his boy and hurried into the bathroom, filling a cup with water and getting a couple of Ethan’s migraine pills. “Here, bud. Can you sit up for me and take your medicine?”

Ethan wriggled upright and tugged the hood over his head with heavy hands, reaching for the pills and accepting Tyler’s help to drink; that done, he slumped back into the pillows and pointed across the room where Mable was sitting atop the dresser.

Tyler happily obliged, ferrying the object across the room and giving it to his Little. Watching Ethan curl up onto his side and hug the stuffie to his chest, Tyler went to close the curtains and shut the door, blocking out all light. “Come here, buddy.” He whispered softly, tugging back the covers and crawling up beside Ethan. Reaching around behind him, Tyler procured Ethan’s paci from the bedside drawer and offered it to him. Ethan accepted it happily, lethargically wriggling closer to Tyler’s chest and letting out a little sigh. “I know, bud. I know it hurts. But you just cuddle with Daddy for a while and then you’ll feel better,” he pushed back Ethan’s bangs again. “You take a little nap, hmm? Just take a little nap and when you wake up you’ll feel all good as new.”


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get a little messy while Mark's gone. Ethan can't help it, he's just jealous!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt from phonenix: Can you do one where Ethan gets jealous because Tyler has to take care of Jack, for whatever reason?..... Oh lord, my sadistic side is coming out with this one XP Maybe have Ethan accidently hurt Jack??
> 
> Hope this fills your needs! Sorry it took so long, I've had no muse for any of this for a few weeks, but i'm glad to deliver to you now!

 

Mark had gone home to visit family for a few days, leaving Tyler to handle Ethan and Jack. Normally, the two got along swimmingly, but today was a rare exception. He’d had to keep a close eye on Ethan today. His boy seemed unreasonably jealous of all the attention Tyler had to spare for Jack, being that he was younger than Ethan. Tyler fed Jack another spoonful of applesauce and Ethan scowled, viciously shoving a few Cheerios into his mouth.

“Ethan, if you keep looking like that, it’ll stick.” Tyler warned nonchalantly, as Jack made a grab for the spoon. “Ah, hey now. That’s my job, silly boy!” he grinned at the baby, pulling it out of reach. “You try and feed yourself, it’ll go everywhere.”

Ethan bristled. Everything about Jack was getting on his nerves today. Why’d he have to be such a stupid baby who couldn’t do anything for himself and just hogged all of the attention? He picked up his cup and made to take another drink, but instead sucked in air. “More juice, please!” he piped up, figuring that a measure of politeness might get him more attention from his Daddy.

Tyler hummed. “Just a minute, baby, I gotta finish up giving Jack his snack.”

Ethan waited a little longer, ignoring the way his Daddy made faces at Jack and generally seemed to be having fun with him. He heaved a sigh and leaned back against his chair. This was taking _forever!_ Why couldn’t Jack just feed himself? He crossed his arms and glowered at the wall.

It took a few moments—as Jack got more full, it became more difficult to get him to accept the bites—but finally Tyler had managed to finish up getting the boys their snacks. “Alright, Eth. You still want more juice?”

Ethan perked up at the attention, nodding eagerly and holding out his cup.

“Alright, bud. Watch the baby for a sec while I throw this away and get you your juice.” Tyler stood and rounded the table, dropping Jack’s empty applesauce cup in the trash and putting the spoon in the sink. “What do you want to do next?” he asked, pouring a little bit of grape juice into Ethan’s Finding Dory cup.

Jack, of course, made no answer. He just nibbled on his fingers and stared across at Tyler, who gave a goofy grin as he put the juice back in the fridge. Ethan hummed and tilted his head. “Blanket fort?” he asked hopefully.

“Yeah, we can do that.” Tyler agreed, moving back over and handing him the cup. “Don’t drink too fast, bud. Don’t want any tummy aches.”

Ethan kicked his feet a little and took a sip of juice, reaching out with his other hand to hang onto Tyler’s forearm. Tyler ran a hand through Ethan’s hair and sighed softly. “Alright, bud. Let’s get Jack and get to building that fort, hmm?” he gently pried Ethan’s hand off his arm, ignoring the little whines, and held out his arms for Jack. His brows rose as the little dude shook his head. “You wanna walk, honey?” he asked, and Jack’s eyes lit up, grabby hands directed at Tyler. “Alright,” Tyler laughed quietly. “Lemme hold your hands though.” He circled around and held onto both Jack’s hands, helping him balance. “You ready, Jack?” he asked, starting to gently walk backward, Jack shakily following with a look of determination on his face that Tyler thought was frankly adorable. Ethan trailed behind, Mable in one arm as he watched their progress. They made it almost to the sofa before Jack’s legs gave out and he collapsed onto his bottom, defeated whine issuing from his mouth. “Hey, it’s alright, right Eth?” Tyler crouched down and rubbed Jack’s back. “You did a good job, buddy! It’s okay if you can’t make it all the way, you’re too little to walk for long stretches yet. But Ty Ty’s proud of you, though!” he looked pointedly at Ethan, who had started to edge towards the closet where they kept the blankets. “And I bet you Ethan’s proud, too! Right, Eth?” Ethan made no reply. Tyler huffed and took a deep breath for strength as he met Jack’s uncertain gaze. “He’s proud of you,” he assured. “Ethan just doesn’t wanna talk right now.” He tapped the end of Jack’s nose with a finger, startling a giggle from him. “Now you just sit right here with this,” he handed Jack his blankie. “and Ethan and I’ll make us a nice cozy fort so we can hang out, okay?” Jack blinked and nodded, discovering the pacifier clipped to his neckline and sticking it into his mouth. “Why don’t you bring me those blankets, bud?” he told Ethan, who happily scampered over to him and handed him the stack of soft blankets. “Where do we want to go? Hmm… we can use the sofa as a back, or we can go into a corner, or maybe use the coffee table as a part of it?” Tyler thought aloud. “Why don’t we do this…” he draped a dark sheet over the sofa, then backed it up to the wall so it secured the back part. Next, he took two of the dining chairs and clipped the sheet to them to create the sides of the roof, followed by another two for the end. Ducking down, he gestured to Ethan, who handed him the heavy quilts. He chuckled at the look on his Little’s face. “Heavy, right bud?” Ethan nodded vigorously. “And now we just…” he spread them out on the bottom of the floor, creating a little nest of sorts. “And now we add the top blankets,” he took the softer ones from Ethan’s eager hands, and unfolded them, placing them in the top part. “Now, we just need some pillows! Can you go and grab some off the beds for me, Eth? I’m gonna get Jack down here.”

Ethan was too distracted by the fort to really be upset about Tyler’s comment, or that he would be alone with Jack, nodding and hurrying up the stairs. Returning a moment later, he dumped all the pillows from his and Tyler’s beds, along with the ones from the guest bed that Jack used. “Got them!” he chirped happily, and Tyler arranged them comfortably into the fort, Jack leaning up against him with a curious look.

“Good job, bud, thank you!” Tyler murmured with an affectionate smile, as Jack patted at his arm. “Whassamatter, bud?” He asked with a smile, and Jack wiggled his way into his lap, curling around his Ty Ty with a little hum. “Just wanted a cuddle?” He asked, rubbing at Jack’s back. Ethan bristled as he ducked into the fort with Mable in his arms. He curled up beside Tyler and leaned heavily against him, hoping that might get Tyler to pay him some attention. Tyler reached up a hand and petted at Ethan’s hair, grimacing. “We gotta get you in a bath, bud. When’s the last time you washed your hair, buddy?” Ethan leaned into the touch with a noncommittal hum, absolutely not caring about that. He wasn’t big. This was a concern for his Daddy now, and he would take care of it.

“We’ll do one movie, and then we’ll get you two in a bath,” Tyler decided, leaning back and letting the two boys curl up beside him. He dozed lightly for the entirety of _Cars,_ occasionally waking when one of the boys moved against him. “Alright,” he mumbled sleepily, tugging his arm from beneath Ethan and rubbing at his eyes. “Time for you two to get baths, then a snack and bedtime.” He cradled Jack to his side, the Little pliantly leaning into him as Ethan stood up and took his hand with a yawn. Leading them upstairs, Tyler set Jack down on the floor and set to drawing a bath for the boys, automatically reaching to help as Ethan got his shirt stuck on his head. “Alright, bud. Climb in and I’ll get you all squeaky clean while Jack waits.” Tyler knelt down and handed Ethan one of his rubber duckies to play with while he wet his hair and started to scrub.

Once he’d gotten Ethan into his clean pajamas, Tyler undressed Jack and got him into the tub of clean water. “Here we go,” he crooned softly, with a smile as he washed Jack’s hair, laughing as he melted into the touches. “That feel good?” he asked, and Jack hummed. Tyler smiled. “Good. You’re gonna be so sleepy by the end of this, bud, I can tell.”

“Right, you stay here and watch Jack for a sec, I’m gonna go down and let Chica back in,” Tyler murmured, leaving the two of them sitting near the top of the stairs. As he turned to leave, Jack whined loudly, reaching out as tears appeared in his eyes. “Hey, it’s alright, bud,” Tyler offered kindly. “I won’t be gone long, and then we can all go to bed.” He turned and left the two sitting there, Jack’s sniffling making him feel like an awful caretaker as he hurried to let the dog back in.

Ethan bristled, getting more angry by the millisecond as Jack cried and his Daddy constantly pandered to the baby. It wasn’t fair! Jack shouldn’t get all his Daddy’s attention! It _wasn’t fair!_

It happened suddenly, hands shooting out and catching both boys off guard. There was a squeak and a flash of green hair and all the sudden Jack’s cries increased in volume, laying in a heap at the foot of the stairs as he held onto his arm. Horrified, Ethan scrambled back to press against the wall, Tyler and Chica running towards the source of all the commotion. Tyler sank down and assessed the situation, heart in his throat as he looked up at Ethan.

“What the hell happened, I was gone for two seconds!” He pressed his hand to Jack’s shoulder and spoke up. “Jack? Jack, is it your arm? Can you tell me if anything else hur—shit!” He growled, noting the bruising and the slight blood around Jack’s eye. “Ethan, goddamnit, you are in so much trouble! Now get your ass down here and help me get him to the car.”

Ethan uncurled himself and slowly made his way downstairs, but Jack sat up once Ethan got close and shook his head. “No. No, not you.” His gaze turned to Tyler. “Please. Just you.”

Tyler nodded and pointed to the corner. “You get your ass in that corner and don’t fucking move until I get him home.” He growled. “Now, do you wanna change real fast and put on something other than this onesie to go see the doctor or?” Jack gave a little painful nod and Tyler smiled. “Alright bud. Lemme go grab you a shirt and some sweats real quick.” Tyler practically ran up the stairs, dashing back down quickly and dropping to his knees and hurrying to unsnap the onesie. “Here we go, buddy.” Tyler crooned softly, grimacing as Jack let out a little grunt of pain as his arm was manipulated into the tee. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to hurt you.” He bracketed his face in his hands, gently stroking Jack’s cheeks with his thumbs. “Can you tell me where you are in headspace right now? I know that must have hurt and scared you, but I need to know if you can handle things at the doctor or if you want me to.” Jack took a shuddering breath and leaned into Tyler’s hands. “Would rather you do.” He finally mumbled, as Tyler helped him to stand up. “Alright, bud. Let’s get you to the hospital then. Ethan, don’t move from that spot till I get back.”

Tyler didn’t stop being angry at Ethan the entire three hours it took to get Jack processed and back into the car with his medicine and his cast arm. Jack seemed to be fluctuating, but sort of Big as they drove through the dark streets back home, and Tyler was eager to get him medicated and into bed. Then he could call Mark and deal with Ethan. Parking the car, he helped Jack out and gently nudged him towards the stairs. “Come on. Let’s go get these pills in you so you can get some sleep.” He guided Jack upstairs by his good elbow and got him tucked into bed, handing him a glass of water and two of the pain pills from the doctor. Jack gratefully swallowed them down and Tyler took the glass back. “Doc says that should help you sleep, too,” he made sure to put Jack’s comfort items nearby. “Let me know if you need me. Get some rest, buddy.” He cracked the door as he left, finally approaching Ethan, who was sitting in the corner, arms around his knees and looking weighed down by his actions.

Tyler moved in slowly, kneeling down. “Hey, bud. Are you ready to talk?” he asked quietly, sitting down beside Ethan, who didn’t move a muscle. Tyler laid a hand on Ethan’s shoulder and squeezed softly. “Listen, I won’t say that I’m not upset with you. I am. But that doesn’t mean I don’t love you anymore, buddy.”

Ethan didn’t respond.

“Ethan?” Tyler tried, sharper this time, worried at the lack of response. “Ethan, hey, look at me!” Tyler lowered himself slightly, bringing himself into Ethan’s line of sight. “Eth?”

Ethan let out a pathetic little mewl, shrinking in on himself.

“Oh, it’s okay, bud. C’mere.” Tyler manhandled the lanky boy until he was sitting on his lap, wrapping his arms around him and curling him close. Ethan sat there passively. “That was very mean, Ethan. You shouldn’t have hurt Jack like that. We’re lucky it wasn’t worse than what it was, with all those stairs.” He murmured softly, and Ethan flinched. Tyler stroked his hair softly. “You gotta tell me what this is all about, bud. I can’t read your mind.”

It was a good several minutes before Ethan finally spoke up. “Was jealous. Got mad ‘cause he was gettin’ all the attention.” It was small and barely perceptible, and Tyler felt his heart drop.

“Ethan,” he spoke firmly. “You _know_ Jack’s just a baby, and he can’t do most things for himself. But if you felt like you weren’t getting enough attention, you could have just told me.” He was a little exasperated. It felt like every time Mark went away they had to go through this. “Hurting your friend isn’t exactly the best way to get the good kind of attention. Uncle Mark won’t be happy to get that phone call from me.”

Ethan’s fingers twisted into Tyler’s shirt. “M’sorry,” he mumbled, feeling that heavy sadness play up in his chest again—he didn’t have any more tears, he’d cried them all while everyone was at the hospital.

“Don’t apologize to me, buddy. You ought to be apologizing to Jack, but we need to let him rest for a good while before he wakes up. Just be extra gentle with him.”

Ethan nodded softly, and Tyler patted his back. “Alright buddy, get on up to bed. I’ll be there when I get off the phone with Mark.”

It was a short but emotionally charged conversation, and one Tyler was glad to finally hang up on as he trudged up the stairs to his room and crawled into bed beside Ethan, who was sleeping fitfully. Curling around Ethan, Tyler sighed heavily. Needless to say Mark was upset, and insisting that he be on the soonest flight back home so he could see to Jack. Ethan, of course, would have to be suitably punished the next day for hurting Jack, but it wouldn’t be anything too big because both boys had already been suitably traumatized today. Ethan shifted closer and Tyler couldn’t help but smile a little bit at the sleepy cuddles he was receiving. What a sweet boy. Even if he did need to work on his jealous streak.


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to puretrashfics for the prompt! 
> 
> Prompt fill: I was going to suggest Mark having a nightmare and Jack wants to help even though he's little so he tries to do the kinds of things Mark does for him when he has a nightmare (getting him water, snuggling him, whatever). Like basically just really cute and cuddly, because that's always the best lol
> 
> (also, if you enjoy age regression fics, check out my Our Little Family series for Avengers centric age regression. Steve is a precious bab)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for helping me through the writer's block, guys!

Mark had cuddled up with Jack at just shy of midnight, movie night with Amy having gone a little long. Thankfully, he’d come in to see that Tyler had taken care of his little guy and gotten him into bed. Knowing Jack was safe with him had Mark drifting off easily to dream land.

Unluckily for him, Amy had wanted to watch one of those mainstream, blood-and-gore type movies that usually tended to give him dreams. Tonight was no exception to that rule. Once he’d actually entered the land of dreams, it was to find himself a helpless victim of some psycho killer out to separate parts of his body and stitch them onto someone else. The disgusting killer used equally disgusting implements to torture his captives, who he’d tied down (naked, of course. Why was it always naked?) to several tables scattered around the room. His cruel, high pitched voice reminded Mark of J.K. Rowling’s description of Voldemort’s voice from _Goblet of Fire_ as he advanced on him with a rusty saw. The first thought that entered his head was: _if this were a game I’d have something to say about it._ Unfortunately, it wasn’t a game. It was very real. The cool jagged edges touched his skin and he would have jumped out of his skin if he hadn’t been tied down with leather straps.

“What should I take from you, hmm?” the killer mused. “An arm? Or perhaps… a leg?” The metal moved from Mark’s shoulder to below the hip and he strained against his bonds.

“You’re getting a little too close to something valuable with that saw,” Mark spoke up cockily, heart pounding in terror as he looked up at the old man.

“Watch your mouth, boy.” He snarled, eyes gleaming with glee as he backhanded Mark across the jaw. His head twisted to the other side, pain immediately blossoming as he tasted the tang of blood. At least the saw wasn’t touching him anymore.

Off to the side somewhere, beneath the pain in his jaw, he noted the soft sobbing of other unfortunates. It made his stomach churn. Fortunately, his kind captor was generous enough to distract him once more from both the pain in his face and the torment of the others.

He felt the saw at his leg again. “I think you’ll line up nicely with your neighbor two tables down,” the old man mused, and Mark blanched. He didn’t exactly know what it benefitted the crazy man to have one person’s leg on another person’s body, or vice versa. All he did know was that he needed to find a way out, and that probably wasn’t going to happen without him losing a limb or two.

Mark’s pulse hammered as the old man disappeared from his vision, something wet falling from somewhere above him and hitting him between the eyes as soft clattering sounded off behind him. The sting of a needle in his neck brought him back to reality, as the cruel voice spoke up again. “Don’t want you t’scream too loud and wake up the neighbors, do we?” a grimy hand stroked Mark’s hair, and he almost puked. “You just relax, now, and I’ll make everything the way it’s meant to be.”

The saw came down against his leg.

Mark sat bolt upright, pulse pounding, queasy feeling settling in his chest as cold sweat trickled down his back. Gasping, he looked around the room to gather himself, coming face to face with a worried and Little Jack. “It’s alright,” he wheezed, rubbing a hand down his cheek. “Bad dream,” Mark elaborated at the perplexed and slightly scared look.

Blinking, Jack shifted and got out of bed, returning a moment later with the bottle of water Mark had left for him on the bathroom counter. Clambering back up beside him, Jack offered the bottle to his Daddy with wide eyes.

A soft smile graced Mark’s lips as he took a few regulating breaths. “Thank you, baby, but Daddy isn’t thirsty.”

Jack dropped the bottle on the bed and offered his Daddy his blankie, instead. That was another thing his Daddy used to help him feel better when he had bad dreams.

Mark cottoned on. “Thank you Jack, that’s very nice of you,” he took the item and placed it in his lap. “I feel much better.”

Jack offered Denny as well, hoping the dinosaur would be able to keep Mark from having anymore bad dreams.

Mark smiled again. “Denny helps keep the bad dreams away for you, doesn’t be buddy?”

Jack nodded, happy to help his Daddy feel better.

Mark put the plush in his lap with the blanket. “There’s one thing that would help me feel all the way better.” He spoke up, and Jack offered the paci he took from his mouth. “No, baby,” Mark laughed. “It’s you! Cuddles from you always make me feel better.” He opened his arms. Jack crawled into his lap and draped his arms around his shoulders, laying his head on his shoulder as Mark moved Jack’s things aside. Yeah, _this_ is just what he needed to chase the bad dreams away.


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ethan forgets to go potty sometimes. That's okay, because Mark is the best uncle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I haven't updated this in forever. Please have this super short one in apology.

Ethan squirmed. He tried to keep himself on whatever was happening with Amy and Mark in the front, but… they’d been out for so long in the sun doing fan meet-ups and videos that he’d been drinking so much water all day he could barely contain himself. Unfortunately, they were now stuck on the interstate traveling back to the office, which meant one thing: traffic. Everyone was getting off work at the time they left the park, so they were stuck in the gridlock. Mark and Amy continued to chat away in the front seat, laughing at one another’s antics. Ethan didn’t want to be a bother, plus there was absolutely no way they could get to any bathroom in time. He was determined to hold it.

Ethan was being suspiciously quiet in the back seat. Mark peered into the rear view mirror and checked on him, figuring he was asleep or something. They’d had a long day. It would make sense if he’d fallen asleep while they were on the road. But he definitely wasn’t asleep. Mark cleared his throat. “Um, Eth? You uh, you need anything, buddy?”

Ethan bit his lip and tried his hardest to seem normal. “N-no,” he stuttered. “I’m fine. Just a little tired is all. I think I’m gonna take a quick nap.”

“Alright, then. Yell if you need anything.” Mark turned cheerfully back to Amy and inched the van up slowly, brake lights of the Honda Civic in front of them shining a soft red across the passengers as the sun started to set.

Ethan leaned back and attempted to relax, clenching his thighs together and cursing his own stupidity. A few minutes passed of him attempting to sleep, but he simply couldn’t get the discomfort out of his system. He must have dozed off a few minutes later, because when he woke up again, his hands had made their way to his crotch. He blushed and quickly made sure that Amy and Mark weren’t looking and tried to move his hands, but he just couldn’t. But hey, at least they were moving once more. He sat up a bit more and yawned.

“Morning, sleepy head,” Amy greeted playfully. “We’re really moving now. Whole twenty miles an hour,” she said sarcastically.

“Ugh, great,” he responded with equal parts of sarcasm. “Um, how long till we get back?”

“I dunno, in this traffic?” Mark asked. “Maybe an hour.” He hit the brakes and Ethan moaned quietly. “Ethan?” he asked, concerned.

“S’nothing. Just… kinda gotta pee.” He finally admitted with a full body blush.

Mark’s expression turned sympathetic. “Hang in there, we oughta be back soon.”

Ethan simply nodded, wishing Tyler were there. At least Tyler could distract him. Mark was too busy with Amy. The car lurched into motion once more and, of course, with his luck—immediately hit a giant pot-hole. Ethan gasped and jammed his hands into his crotch, but the damage had been done already. He felt the first few spurts squirt out, squirming desperately to try and keep it in as Amy turned around to investigate the source of the gasp.

“Ethan?” she asked, pushing her sunglasses up and staring at him in concern.

Ethan whimpered softly. The pity in her expression when she realized what was happening was maybe the worst thing Ethan had ever experienced.

Amy quickly turned to Mark and murmured something to him, Mark pulling them off the road as soon as he could as the puddle around Ethan only got bigger.

“Hey, hey buddy,” Mark hopped out quickly and rounded the car to open the door beside Ethan. “Hey, it’s alright, we can get this cleaned up in no time, right Am?”

Amy nodded and immediately went to rummage around for some spare clothes Ethan could maybe wear.

Ethan whimpered again, looking up at Mark with tears streaming down his face. Mark patted his shoulder. “It’s okay. Amy, how’s it coming? Did you find anything?”

Amy returned with a smile. “Found a pair of his gym clothes. They’re not too smelly, but I figure anything is better than what he’s currently wearing.”

“See? There we go, buddy. No more tears. Hmm?” Mark took the bundle from Amy and handed it to Ethan. “Why don’t you hide behind the van and change super fast, while Ames and I get this seat cleaned up?”

Ethan couldn’t find his voice through the embarrassment as he sneaked off and changed with lightening speed while hiding behind the van. He didn’t want to get arrested for indecent exposure after all. He bundled up the wet clothes and tossed them into a trash bag he found in the floor of the trunk. Mark turned around when he approached and looked him up and down. Ethan gave him a look and he opened his arms for a hug.

“It’s alright, buddy. We’ll be home in no time. Then you can go take a nap, alright?”

Ethan clung tightly and started to cry again. He couldn’t help it, he just… felt so small.

“It’s okay, buddy.” Mark assured. “Amy’s got a towel down on the seat, do you want her to drive us home so I can sit with you?”

Ethan nodded against his shoulder tearfully. “Please,” he begged.

“Alright, come on,” Mark herded him into the back seat and gave Amy a look that clearly said ‘we can talk later’. Ethan curled needily up against him, clinging on as Mark petted his hair softly. “It’s okay, buddy. Things will be better once we get home.”


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack and Mark play games. Jack gets a little hangry and Mark has to feed the baby.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt fill for fallenfromthestars who wanted more of Mark and Jack being cute and playing together! I hope you like it!

 

 **“** Where is he?” Mark pretended to be perplexed as he strolled through the living room. “Where’s my Jackabug, what happened to him?”

The lump of blankets on the sofa giggled madly.

“Did he catch a space ship to Mars? Did the aliens get him?” Mark took another lap, before stepping close to the sofa. “I guess I’ll never know…” he said loudly. “Guess I’ll just sit down on this _cozy_ sofa!” Mark sat down on top of the lump, and it gave a squeak and dissolved into another fit of giggles. “My, this sofa cushion sure is _squirmy_!” Mark rubbed his butt against something so bony it could only be Jack’s shoulder.

“This isn’t a comfy sofa at all! There’s so many lumps! I gotta sort this out.” Mark pretended to fluff the cushion once he’d stood up, scowling and exclaiming whenever the cushion didn’t get any more cozy.

After a moment he put on his thinking face and hummed. “I think I know what’s going on here…” He flung the blankets off. “Found you!” He crowed loudly. He bent double and gave Jack a raspberry on his tummy, right where the oversized tee had ridden up and exposed his skin above the diaper he wore. Jack squealed, and Mark’s smile grew.

He _relished_ those days when they could spend time together, alone. Tyler and Ethan had gone to stay at Disney Land for a couple days, as a special treat for Ethan’s good behavior on tour. Tyler wanted to spoil him a little. But Mark thought he had gotten the better end of the bargain-- a whole three days with his baby boy.

He pulled back and wiped Jack’s hair away from his forehead. “Wanna play again?” he asked. “Or does baby boy want to play a different game?” Mark’s voice held that indulgent tone he often used when Jack was in headspace.

Jack sat up, hugging Denny to his chest and sucking on three fingers, nodding.

“You wanna play something else?”

Another nod.

“Alright, honey. We can play something else. What does Baby Bug want to play?”

Jack pulled his fingers out of his mouth and put his hands in front of his eyes.

Mark gasped loudly. “Where on earth did Jack go? Is he _gone_?” He was proud of Jack for putting forth the mental effort to play Peek-a-boo, it was more than he was up for normally.

Jack giggled, then dragged his hands down his face until he was visible again. Silly Dada! He was here the whole time!

“Oh my _goodness_!” Mark gushed, pressing his hands to his chest in mock astonishment. “He’s _back_! Where on earth did he _come_ from?” Mark got an idea. He put his hands in front of his own face, wanting to gauge Jack’s reaction.

Jack blinked. Then he squirmed. Then he began to whine in confusion until Mark took his hands down.

His baby made the cutest faces when he was surprised. “Dada!” he squeaked, and Mark laughed at his adorable expression.

“Hi, baby boy,” he greeted, then put his hands up again.

The cycle repeated a few more times before Jack got bored of the game and crawled off, sitting on his bottom in front of the bookshelf. Mark heard him move and pushed to his feet. “Do you want to read a book?” he asked Jack, squatting down beside him. Jack pulled a few books off the shelf and made a delighted expression as they thudded to the floor. He reached out and experimentally pulled a few more. He giggled when the same result was replicated. “Oh, no. Let’s not do that,” Mark murmured, once he’d cottoned on to what Jack’s new game was. He scooped him up and shook his head. “Nope. We’re not gonna do that,” he crooned at a whiny Jack. “Let’s play a different game. Let’s play….” He thought. “Let’s play with Chica. You wanna play with Chica? Chica!” Mark walked Jack through to the kitchen as he called for the dog. Chica trotted around the corner, tail wagging and little doggy nails clicking on the tiles. “Hey, pup!” he greeted, setting Jack down in front of the happy dog. “Brought you a friend to play with!” He crooned, petting her ears softly while Jack’s face immediately lit up as he reached for the dog. “Yeah, you play with the puppy, and I’ll go fix you a bottle. Hangry you is not a good look, Jackabear.” Chica whined happily, dancing to and fro a little as the little patted at her face and gave her hugs. She licked Jack’s face and Jack hummed happily.

With Jack suitably occupied, Mark whistled to himself as he went about preparing an afternoon snack for his cranky boy. A nice bottle would do the trick, and then he’d be all ready for a pre-dinner nap once he was done. That would leave Mark with time to brainstorm new video ideas they could do before Jack had to leave for Brighton once more. He carefully warmed up the milk, then added a couple of scoops of protein powder to it to give his little one something that would stick with him longer than simple milk would. “Jackaboy! Look what Daddy has!” he called, laughing indulgently as Jack’s face lit up at the sight of his bottle. He hauled his little back to the sofa and got him situated, letting him put his hand over Marks to give the illusion he was holding his own bottle. Chica curled up on Mark’s other side while he idly surfed Netflix for something appropriate for Jack. He finally settled on Mulan, knowing it would entertain him and that Jack wouldn’t understand the violence anyway. He just liked the pretty colors. Sure enough, in fifteen minutes Jack was deeply asleep, soothed by the warm milk in his tummy. “You sleep tight, champ. We can play some more once you wake up.” Mark told him, scratching Chica behind the ears.

 


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack's on tour with Signe. As hard as he's worked, and as much as he's tried to keep Little Jack from coming out, eventually he does. He's scared everyone else will find out, but Signe is the bestest caregiver and Amy is very understanding when Mark gets awakened in the middle of the night by a video call.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey so I was watching some of the tour vlogs this morning, and this just sort of came into my head right after that.

It was about three AM when Mark's phone started ringing. The shrill tones broke out through the silence, startling him awake. 

"Phone." Amy muttered sleepily. Of course it was one of the rare nights he could spend at Amy's place when the phone decided to go off. 

Mark shifted clumsily and grabbed his phone off the side table, letting Amy roll out of his embrace and curl up again. "Mmm... 'lo?" he mumbled, phone upside down in his sleepy confusion. He hadn't even noticed it was a video call, he was so tired. 

"Mark?" 

It was Signe. He frowned and pushed himself into a sitting position. "Signe?" he asked, fumbling for the light switch and flicking on the lamp beside the bed. Amy groaned loudly. "Sorry, babe," he apologized with a little shrug. 

"What's Signe want?" Amy asked sleepily, giving up and rolling to face him. "Something wrong?" 

"I dunno, I guess I'll ask." he turned his attention back to the phone and righted it, staring down at the screen. "Hey, uh, what's up?" he asked curiously. "Any particular reason you're calling me at three AM?" 

Signe looked around covertly before whispering softly. "It's Sean. We're on the bus for the night, but he's just woken up from a dream, and he's Little. I'm not sure what to do. I just... panicked and called you because I knew he wouldn't want anyone else to find out, but I'm not sure what to do since we're in such close quarters." 

"Uhh, just..." Mark rubbed a hand down his face. "Just take the phone to him. Is he crying?" 

"No. He might soon, though." There was a shuffle and the sounds of fabric rustling, then Jack swam into view in the dim lighting of the bus. "Are you guys alone?" 

"For the moment. We stopped for gas and then some of the guys went inside to get snacks." She murmured, glancing out at the window. "They're just having a quick stretch of the leg while we refuel. We need to make this fast." 

Mark nodded as Amy wiggled herself upright to watch the situation unfold. 

Signe handed the phone off to Sean, with a little smile to reassure him. 

"Jack?" Mark asked softly, forcing his tone to sound less 'you just woke me up' and more 'i got a kid that needs me so i'll suck it up and be happy'. "Hey, buddy," he cooed softly as Jack sniffled and let out a little whimper. "Signe says you had a bad dream?" 

Jack nodded desperately, big fat tears welling up and sliding down his cheeks as Signe put a hand on his knee and squeezed comfortingly. He just wanted his Daddy. But he  _couldn't have him_ because he had to go on stupid tour! 

"Hey, no, don't cry buddy. Everything's okay," Mark assured. "You've got Signe right there, what's all the fuss about, hmm?"

Jack whined again, tears coming harder and faster as he shook his head. "Dada," he whimpered insistently, and Mark's heart near about broke in two. 

"Aw, bud. I miss you too." he assured, grateful for Amy being there as she squeezed his hand in support. "I do, I really really miss you, baby boy. But don't worry, because Signe and I have it all worked out. You're gonna come stay with me and Amy for a week once tour is over! Then I can give you cuddles, okay?"

That didn't seem to do much. Jack was still crying, and now he'd started chewing on his fingers. 

"Hey, bud? I need you to listen to me okay? Everything's gonna be fine, alright? Daddy loves you so so much, but right now he just can't come help you. I need you to either let Signe help you, or be a big boy for me, okay? Alright?" he clarified, watching Jack as he rubbed his eyes with his drool covered hand. "Aw, bud. You know that's yucky," Mark whispered and shook his head as Jack finally relented and let Signe crawl up beside him. "Thank you, Jack," Mark murmured as SIgne took the phone back. "You're such a good boy." he whispered. "I love you so much." Signe rubbed at Jack's back and Jack let out a shuddering breath. "I love you so much. You just calm down, buddy. That's it. You calm down. I love you, and I'll see you soon, alright? Daddy's got to go back to sleep now, and so do you, okay?" 

Reluctantly, Jack nodded softly as the others started to board the bus again, hiding his face in Signe's shoulder to make it look like he was asleep as she ended the call. 

Mark put his phone back on the table and sighed heavily, rubbing at his eyes. 

"Hey," Amy leaned her head on his shoulder. "I know how hard it is for you to be separated from him when he's like that. But don't worry, just another week or so, and we can see him in person again!" She kissed his cheek. "Don't worry. I'm just glad you finally told me what was up, otherwise I'd be worried you two were dating behind my back!" she teased as she settled down again. 

Mark turned off the lamp and settled on his back, tugging the blankets to his chin. "Please never mention him and dating in the same sentence again." he shuddered a little. "Not with that dynamic. It's literally like saying i'd date a kid." 

She curled up to his side and laughed softly. "I'm just teasing. I know how seriously you take this. But the point is, he's stressed out, but he'll be fine. You get to see him soon. It's sad to see him so upset like that, but don't worry. Soon enough he'll be here and you can take care of him when he's upset. But for now, we all need to be asleep to do our best work tomorrow." 

Mark hummed softly and adjusted his position. Sure. Whatever. He just wanted soon to happen sooner. 

 


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack finally gets to go home to see Mark, and Signe and Amy bond over how cute he is! Jack's a shy baby and is embarrassed for Woosh to see him be so small, and for Amy to gush over him. Mark thinks it's all funny, but he doesnt' want to share the cuddles. Ethan's happy to get people that want to tell him how smart he is for coloring his pictures, and Tyler's glad to have extra hands on board.

Jack was completely beat to death by the time he and Signe showed up at Mark's door. As soon as the door opened, he let out the most pitiful sound and nearly collapsed into Mark.

 

"Oof!" Mark caught him, backpack and all, righting him and letting him lean on his body. "Hi, bud." he greeted, flashing a smile over Jack's shoulder at Signe, who gave a little wave and pushed past them into the house. Mark let Jack hang onto him for another moment. "Do you maybe wanna let me go now, so we can go inside and you can get out of your nasty airplane clothes?"

 

Jack made a little whine of protest and let go, wearily letting himself be shepherded inside. Mark grabbed his suitcase so he didn't have to carry it, and pointed to the staircase. Signe and Amy's excited voices could be heard from the kitchen, complimenting Ethan on his coloring skills. Ethan was very excited to have extra people in the house, especially if they were going to praise him for being such a smart boy.

 

Mark watched as Jack climbed the stairs tiredly, eager to spend some time with him for a few days. He'd already laid out everything he'd need to get Jack wrangled into a bath and then dressed in his little clothes. He shut the door behind him once he'd pulled the suitcase into Jack's usual room. "D'you wanna stay in here with Signe for the week, or would you rather stay with me in my room, and have Amy and Signe share?" he asked, once again grateful that they both had girlfriends who weren't jealous and understood the situation.

 

Jack dropped his backpack and turned around, sighing heavily. He could already feel himself slipping and he just didn't care. He looked over at Mark with pleading eyes, hoping he would make the decisions for him.

 

Mark took the hint. "Okay. We can come back to it," he said easily. "How about we just focus on getting you clean first, hmm?"

 

Jack nodded, relieved, and followed Mark into the bathroom. Mark bent and plugged up the tub, Jack's attention wandering as he heard a door open and close downstairs, followed by a gleeful yelping. "Chica!" He cried happily, dropping to the floor as the retriever came pelting into the bathroom, whining eagerly as she threw herself at Jack. "Hi!" he laughed as she licked his face, rubbing his hands over her soft fur and feeling contentment wash over him. It felt like home, being back with everyone here, and having Chica spoil him with all her attention. He didn't even notice when Mark tipped the eucalyptus bubble bath into the tub, the sweet aroma filling the room as steam rose from the surface of the warm water.

 

Mark took a few pictures of the cuteness before snapping his fingers. "Chica! Chica, go downstairs!" he ordered. "Go!" he gave a little croon at the dog's upset whining as she took a few uncertain steps backward. "Ah, don't gimme that. You get to play with him later! I gotta get him in the bath first, silly pup!" He pointed again and she took the cue, turning around and zooming excitably out the doorway. Jack pouted, deflating a little bit. "C'mon, Jackaboy! Let's get you out of those clothes and into the bath!" Mark kept his tone light as he helped Jack out of the dirty clothes and got him settled in the bath. "That's better, isn't it?" he asked, as Jack gave a little relaxed sigh as the warm water worked on his tired muscles. Mark let him sit for a moment and took the clothes to toss them in the hamper, retrieving the clothes he'd laid out on the bed and setting them on the bathroom counter by the big fluffy towel. That done, he made quick work of washing what was rapidly becoming a squirmy boy as Jack got littler and littler, wanting nothing more than cuddles.

 

Once he had gotten Jack dried off and into a clean onesie and diaper, he plucked him from the floor and carried him into the bedroom once more, handing him his blanket and a pacifier. "There." he said happily, and kissed Jack's forehead as he laid his head on his shoulder. "All clean. Now we can go downstairs and see everyone! Tyler's missed you, and so has Ethan!"

 

The kitchen was a flurry of activity when he finally arrived downstairs with Jack, everyone looking up from helping Ethan color to coo and fawn over the baby.

 

"Hey bud!" Tyler walked over, giving a big grin and reaching out. "I missed you! C'n I have a hug?" he asked, and brought out the puppy eyes for good measure. Jack leaned out happily, clumsily giving Tyler a big hug. "Ah, thank you!" Tyler gushed. "You give such good hugs, buddy!" He ruffled Jack's damp hair and took a step back as Ethan pelted from his chair.

 

"I wanna hug 'im too, Daddy!" he whined, and reached out. Mark had to stop himself from audibly saying 'aw' as Jack hugged Ethan, Ethan kissing his cheek adorably. "Hi, baby." he said sweetly. "I missded you! Daddy kept sayin' you were comin' back, but you were gone for a really long time!" He rounded the table and went back to his coloring, surprising everyone by perching himself on Signe's lap and asking for her help.

 

"Of course, sweet boy," Signe responded immediately, feeling like she might actually explode from all of the cuteness in the room. "Now, what color do we want to color with, hmm?" No matter she didn't get to interact with Sean, she would try again later. Ethan was adorable, and she basked in his cuteness.

 

Amy stood off to the side, eyeing Jack as he nuzzled at Mark's neck. Mark hummed and patted his back absently. "Ames? You wanna come say hi? I know he wasn't this little last time, on Skype, but this is normal for him. He's really sweet, I promise."

 

"Yeah, unless you try to feed him veggies instead of a bottle," Tyler piped up with a laugh. "Then he turns into Mister Hyde."

 

Mark laughed. "This is true. We'll just avoid that until a few days after the girls have interacted with him more, show off his good side," he smirked as Amy approached cautiously, smiling softly as she caught Jack's attention.

 

"Hi, little one," she began softly, beaming at Jack as he peered up from beneath a little bit of his blanket. Jack hummed softly and reached out. Amy looked perplexed. "Does he want me to hold him?" she asked Mark in confusion.

 

"Mm, no. I think he just wants to play with your hair, because it's so long and pretty."

 

"He has a thing for hair. He's very grabby." Tyler agreed, crossing his arms. Chica snuffled from beneath the table.

 

"Oh. Well you can't have my hair, honey. No," Amy twisted her hair into a bun with the tie she kept on her wrist. "No, you can't! You can't pull my hair!" She adopted the traditional 'dog and baby' tone of voice, light and happy and over the top. Jack gave a little disappointed hum and turned his attention back to Mark, whining and patting at his Daddy's cheek.

 

Mark cleared his throat. "I'm gonna take him in there and sit for a while, let him calm down a bit. It's a lot of stimulation for him to take in at once in here."

 

Tyler nodded. "Do you want me to make him a bottle? That might help."

 

"Yeah, just bring it in when you're done." Mark agreed, carrying Jack into the living room and sitting down with him, holding him close. Jack squirmed until he could look up at Mark from his back, clutching one hand loosely in the fabric of his shirt. "Hi," Mark cooed. "Hi, baby boy. I missed you." he cupped Jack's cheek and ran his thumb over the cheekbone. "Yeah, I did," he said softly. "Missed you so much I almost couldn't stand it." He leaned down and kissed Jack's forehead, then both cheeks.

 

A moment later Tyler arrived with a bottle, Jack making soft insistent sounds as he noticed the object in Tyler's hands. "Yeah, bud. This is gonna make you feel lots better," Tyler gave a soft lopsided grin as he handed Mark the bottle. "You drink up, okay? Get that tummy nice and full, and then in a minute you can come back in the kitchen and see Ethan." He patted Mark's shoulder before heading back towards the sounds of Ethan's excitement and Amy and Signe's laughter. He was surprised at how quickly his little dude had warmed up to the girls-- Ethan had never interacted with either of them before in headspace. He sat back down in his chair at the table and listened to Amy narrating the story of the glittery pink princess she was coloring as Ethan listened in rapt attention. He had forgotten the bright orange kitty he was coloring, Signe absently taking over for him when his grip went slack on the crayon and doing some doodling of her own in the margins.

Tyler pulled a blank dinosaur sheet towards him and picked up a green crayon, giving the smiling apatosaur a nice green shade. Jack's feeding was taking a bit longer than normal, and Tyler secretly suspected that it was because Mark wanted to spend more time with him alone. He colored for a while, listening to Amy’s chatter and hiding his shock at the fact that she’d managed to actually get Ethan to be quiet for an extended amount of time. He logged the info away for future babysitting opportunities—Amy’s stories certainly rivaled Wade’s on the scale of Ethan Captivation. The four of them looked up when Mark re-entered, carrying Jack on his hip and looking far calmer than he had in the last few weeks.

“What are we doing?” Mark asked with a little smile, taking the last vacant chair and situating Jack in his lap.

“Amy’s telling a story!” Ethan squeaked excitedly, scrambling from his spot on Signe’s lap to give Mark a big hug, squishing Jack between them.

Mark gave an amused smile as he used his free arm to hug back. “Really? Well I can’t wait to hear the end of it!” he and Ethan giggled at the grumpy face they were met with once Jack was freed from the sandwich hug.

“Don’t be upset, my baby!” Ethan patted Jack’s arm clumsily. “You gets twice the hug that way!” he explained, making his way over to Amy and holding out his arms.

“Oh. I get a hug too?” She asked, beaming as Ethan nodded sweetly. “Well, thank you!” she grunted and groaned playfully, squeezing Ethan tightly so that he laughed. “You give the best hugs ever, Ethan!”

Ethan blushed, and Tyler watched in fascination as Ethan repeated the process with Signe.

“Thanks for colorin’ with me.” Ethan lisped, fingers in his mouth as he blushed shyly at Signe. “You’re real good at drawing.”

Amy and Signe exchanged glances, cooing at the adorable spectacle. “You’re welcome, sweet boy,” Signe told him with a big smile. “You’re such a great coloring partner. I never get to do that with Sean.”

Ethan sucked on his fingers and gave her an innocent blink. “S’prob’ly cause he’s so little.” He said sagely. “Daddy says babies aren’t too good at coloring yet. But I get to color with Uncle Mark sometimes! He likes coloring his dinosaurs red and blue.” Ethan drifted back over to Tyler, insistently patting his arm. Obediently, Tyler abandoned his color sheet and lifted his arm, letting Ethan squirm up into his lap.

Mark pushed the empty bottle out of reach of grabby baby hands and held Jack closer. “Hey, Eth? I think I left Jack’s paci in the living room, can you go get it for me like a big boy?” he asked. “It’s a red paci and it’s on the clip with the trucks on it.”

Ethan lit up at the chance to help. “Okay!” he squeaked, squirming off Tyler’s lap and hurrying out of the room. He returned a moment later triumphantly holding the pacifier, clip dangling. “Here you go!”

“Thank you, buddy, you’re my good helper, aren’t you?” Mark asked, fixing the clip to Jack’s neckline as Ethan curled up on Tyler’s lap, arms around Tyler’s neck and face hidden in his shoulder.

Comfortable silence passed as Signe kept up her embellishments to Ethan’s coloring page, and Amy browsed her phone. Jack sucked sleepily at his paci and Tyler ran his hand through Ethan’s hair. He was sure that Ethan would get tired soon and want to trade his hand for his own pacifier.

Mark broke the silence first. “I uh, I think that I’m gonna take this guy upstairs and get him in bed. Signe, if you don’t mind sharing with Amy, I’ll put him in my room.”

Tyler jostled Ethan lightly. “Whatcha think, bud? You ready to say goodnight to Amy and Signe?” Ethan nodded sleepily, still sucking on his fingers as Tyler pushed to his feet. “Alright. C’n you wave goodnight?”

Signe set her things aside and glanced across at Amy, who gave a little smile. “Slumber party,” she laughed quietly, waving back as Tyler carried Ethan up the stairs.

Mark laid out a clean pair of pajamas for Jack, placing a towel out on the carpet so that he could change him before bed. A whine and scratching sounded at the door and he sighed softly. At least Jack would have a distraction during his changing so there were no sleepy tears. “Alright, Chica Bica,” he gave a weary groan and pushed to his feet, letting his dog inside. “There we go,” he shut the door again and had her sit down while he got Jack situated on top of the towel and set out the supplies. “Alright, Jackabug. Let’s get you ready for bed.” Jack was practically asleep on his back already as Mark got him cleaned up, Chica nuzzling at his face. Mark finally settled on just putting Jack in an oversized tee and his diaper, figuring that both of them were too tired to fuss anymore. Once he wrangled Jack into the bed, he turned around to set his glasses on the side table. By the time he’d turned back, Chica was curled up with Jack, looking smug as all hell. Mark ran his hands down his face wearily. “No, Chica. You know you’re not allowed on the bed, c’mon,” he shooed her down, towards her bed in the corner. Jack whined around his paci. “I know, baby. I know, but you can see Chica tomorrow.” He slid into bed beside Jack and hugged him close. “Now please, honey, stop crying.” Mark kissed Jack’s forehead. “Stop crying, and go to sleep. You’re gonna feel so good after a full night’s sleep.”


	26. Chapter 26

Hey guys, so after a bit of consideration, I've decided to maybe start posting on this work again. Does anyone have any prompts they'd want to see or anything? I honestly kinda miss this dynamic and these cuties. I haven't really watched any videos for Mark or Jack in while, but I do follow them on Insta and it's made me want to get back to writing stuff about them. So anyway, leave prompt ideas in the comments and I'll hopefully get back to posting a few on this one. 


	27. Chapter 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack's a grumpy boy and has accidents. Amy is potential mommy material and Mark is best daddy as always.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lemme know in comments if you'd like to see something where this evolves into Amy or Signe becoming Jack's mommy while Mark is his daddy still. I think Amy has huge potential, where Signe could be a part time CG with a cute nickname from Jack.

"No." 

"Yes." 

"No." 

" _Yes._ " 

"No!" Jack screeched, crossing his arms and frowning at Mark mutinously. 

"Yes. Now don't make me put you in time out before we start recording." Mark pointed at the diaper on the bed. "I want your little butt in that diaper before we start recording, mister, and no exceptions." 

Jack, who was half in headspace half out of it, let out a little growl. 

"Don't you growl at me, little boy. I'm gonna count to three, and if you're not on the bed by then I'm spanking your bottom." Mark used his best, most firm Daddy Voice, and he saw Jack swallow a little in fright. 

The Little shifted from foot to foot, debating. After Mark had reached '2', he decided a sore bottom for a long time of sitting down wasn't worth it, and crawled up on the bed. 

"Good boy." Mark nodded happily. He'd just finished up getting Jack into his diaper when there was a soft knock at the door. Amy stuck her head in.

"Hey, you guys about ready? Everything's all set up." 

Mark nodded. "Yeah. Someone tried to fight me on whether or not he needed protection, but he gave in eventually. We'll be there in a minute. I can't let him go out there without pants on." 

Jack clumsily sat himself up and crossed his arms. "Notta baby." he insisted, sliding down and waddling over to the dresser. He tugged out a pair of loose sweatpants and shimmied into them. 

"Didn't say you were," Mark replied, watching as Jack made to open the door. "Uh, Jack?" he asked. "You uh, you still got your pacifier hanging from your shirt, buddy. Maybe take that off at least before we go start filming." 

Jack flushed and stopped himself short, unclipping the crayon patterned clip and dinosaur pacifier, walking over to Mark and holding it out to him. 

"Gonna just put that right there," Mark made a little show of putting the paci on his dresser. "We can come back to that later. Now let's go on and have some fun. Maybe we can set up a casual livestream, cap the entry at about fifty people, and do some Jackbox games?" he mused as he followed Jack out the door and into the living room. 

Amy finished up checking all the sound settings and then turned around to smile at the boys as they entered the room. "Everybody ready?" she asked, patting at Chica's head. 

* * *

 

Once they'd decided to break out the gaming console, things flew by quickly, and Jack soon forgot himself in the wake of picking people's funniest answers to the questions and listening to Mark and Amy arguing about which one they liked best. When it was his turn Jack found himself squirming lightly as he attempted to pick his favorite answer. He made light of it with a joke and a laugh, but he crossed his legs and typed the answer out on his phone. Then he passed his phone off to Amy and told her to cover for him, beaming at the cameras and letting out a cheeky, "Ah, I'm dyin' fer a piss, c'mon, cover for us while I'm in the loo." 

Mark and Amy exchanged just the barest of looks as she took his phone from him, laughing softly at his answer as he disappeared from frame, down the hall to the bathroom. The casual stream continued in his absence, and he knew that Mark and Amy would cover for him. He managed to get the door shut and shuck down his pants, but the tapes of the diaper had him flummoxed, trying his hardest to undo them. Jack fumbled with them, a soft whine leaving his throat as he felt his bladder let go, hissing loudly in the empty bathroom. He leaned against the wall, knees weak as he finished up. 

He knew he'd have to change himself-- this was exactly why Mark had put him in a diaper to begin with, so he didn't have an accident and show up to the stream in wet pants. Jack fumbled at the tapes until he finally got them open, sliding the wet diaper from between his legs and tossing it into the trash. After wiping himself down as best he could with toilet paper, Jack kicked his pants off and looked under the counter. Ethan had left some pull-ups behind, so he just stepped into one of those and put his pants back on. He could never diaper himself, not without help. At least not properly. It always leaked. 

Once he'd washed his hands Jack returned and accepted his phone from Amy. 

"Thought you'd fallen in there, Jackaboy!" Mark teased, though Jack knew him well enough to pick out the concern behind his bright eyes. 

"You're winning now," Amy told him, as Chica adjusted her position on Amy's lap. "And it's me and Chica now against you and Mark separately." 

"Chica, huh?" Jack drawled. "Guess you win by default. She's the default favorite. Mark and I don't stand a chance." he tried his hardest to cling to being Big, but having wet himself he just couldn't help it. He managed to hold out until the last couple minutes, waving as Amy and Mark signed off and stopped recording. 

"Jack?" Mark looked at him softly, and Jack squirmed uncomfortably. 

"M'wet," he mumbled, feeling pitiful as he shifted again and a few tears came into his eyes as he realized the pull-up had begun to leak. "Daddy, m'wet," he started to sob, reaching out. Mark quickly stood up and picked him up, patting his back. 

"That's okay baby boy," He cooed. "I'll go on and get you changed, we can have a nice bath, and then you and me and Amy can all cuddle up in bed together and watch a movie, hmm?" 

Jack let out another desperate sob as Mark carted him into the bathroom. "Don't cry, Bug. Please, don't cry. I know it's not fun when you have accidents. But you're just a baby, and that's what happens to babies," he explained as he started the bath up and dumped in the bubbles. Amy entered a moment later and started to get Jack undressed. 

"Poor baby," she cooed, and Jack whined loudly. "Oh you poor baby," Amy kissed his face and got him undressed so Mark could lift him into the tub. "Don't you worry, sweetie, you'll be taken care of in no time." Mark dumped him into the tub and started washing him as soon as he could, while Amy made silly faces and sang to him to keep him distracted. Amy had just gotten started on the first verse of "Baby Mine" from Dumbo when Mark got him out and dried off. Jack had calmed down quite a bit, riveted by her clear tones and her soft face. It made Mark's job far easier as he got Jack diapered up and into his pj's before the baby had even noticed. 

"There we go, sweetie," Amy crooned, as Mark got him up and into the bedroom. 

"There's my good boy. My sweet baby boy," Mark said quietly, as he cuddled with Jack while Amy changed into her pj's too. They swapped him around and Amy cuddled him, kissing all over his face while Mark changed his own clothes. 

"Such a good boy deserves cuddle time and a movie, hmm?" Amy whispered to him while Mark climbed into the bed with them and started to run his fingers through Jack's hair softly. 

"Yeah. Let's put on a good movie,hmm?" Mark turned on the tv and started playing Wall-E softly. Jack snuffled against Amy's chest and she smiled down at him warmly.

"Such a good boy," Amy murmured, as Mark tucked a spare paci into Jack's mouth. She kissed his forehead. "Sweet baby boy."


	28. Chapter 28

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amy babysits Jack while Mark goes out with Chica. Jack makes a surprising revelation and Amy loves it. Mark's not sure how he feels about it, though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAD to write this after it wouldn't leave me alone. Woke up with this in my head and can't stop thinking about it. Let me know if you want a follow up chapter where Mark comes around to things and there's like, a nice day out or something.

"Hey, Ames?" Mark stuck his head into the room and Amy looked up from her novel curiously. 

"What's up?" 

"Can you be on alert with Jack? He's napping and I gotta run Chica down to the groomer real quick. He shouldn't wake up before I'm back, but if I get stuck in traffic or something he might." 

She nodded softly. "Of course. I'll be sure to keep an ear out for him." 

"Thanks," he threw her a relieved smile. "You're the best, babe." Mark blew her a kiss as he herded Chica out the door. "C'mon, bub, in the car, let's go!" the door slammed behind him and Amy laughed softly. 

"Oh, I love that dork," she said to herself, marking her place and setting her book aside as her phone chimed. "Aw," she breathed out a fond smile as she looked at the message. Ethan had sent her a picture of a very glittery cat he'd colored just for her. He'd written in very large letters across the top 'FOR AMY' and put a bunch of x's and o's at the bottom of it.  **Thanks, sweetie!** Amy texted him right back.  **I love it so much, I can't wait for you two to get back so I can hear all about your fun time at Universal!**

Just as she hit 'send', a series of soft cries sounded from upstairs. "Oh, here we go," She murmured to herself, putting her phone down and climbing the stairs. Jack was just getting used to the large crib Mark had bought and put in the other corner of the room, and sometimes when he woke up it still startled him to be unable to just toddle out of the room and demand cuddles from the nearest 'grownup'. As she entered the room, she caught sight of a very upset Jack clinging to the bars as he sat up in the bed, wailing like he'd just been told kittens didn't exist anymore. 

"Baby, it's okay!" Amy tried to speak over his cries, reaching up to slide the bars down so that she could sit down with him. "Baby-ugh!" Amy grunted as Jack immediately flung himself at her empty lap, curling up against her and sobbing. "Hey, it's okay. You're alright, you're fine," she cooed softly, running a hand through his hair. "I know it can be scary, but really it's very safe for you. This way you don't fall out of bed and bump your head again, remember how much that hurt?" she asked, and he gave a big sniffle and nod. "There we go, calm down, sweet boy. Now what do you say you and I go cuddle on the couch, hmm? I can make you a bottle, and then we can snuggle up and watch some more tv..." Jack sucked at his paci hard, looking up at her over the bright yellow plastic to blink softly. "Hmm?" Amy couldn't help but coo at him. He was downright adorable like this, all pliant and soft and warm and... Amy patted his cheek softly. "Baby, did you use your diaper?" she asked him, and Jack's eyes filled up with tears again, whining against the nipple in his mouth. "Shh," Amy's voice was warm as she shushed him. It felt like when she'd go visit her baby cousins, natural and innocent and full of sweetness--a far cry from lots of his videos where every other word was 'fuck' and there were about a hundred sex jokes thrown in. "That's okay, baby boy. You don't have to be upset. You're far far too little to use the potty, and I don't mind changing you." She told him, and kissed his forehead. 

The realization that he'd wet himself while laying on Amy's lap had nearly pulled him completely out of headspace. But the soft smooth tone of her voice and her gentle touches had him sliding right back under almost as soon as he'd jolted himself towards being Big again. It didn't help that the way she spoke to him was exactly what Mark did when he wanted to keep Jack comfortable with being in headspace, to lull him back towards that soft fuzzy state of mind where he didn't care that people were helping clean up his bodily fluid or feeding him his food for him. So he just nuzzled at her shirt softly and relaxed against her with a little nod. Amy was safe. Amy wouldn't hurt him. Daddy trusted her and she had kind eyes. Plus she sang him songs at bath time, and that was pretty cool. 

"Alright, let's get you cleaned up. C'n you stand up for me, honey? I'm not quite as strong as Mar-as uh, as your Daddy is. I can't carry you." 

Jack gave her accusatory eyes as he sat back up and sucked on his paci hard to soothe himself at the lack of contact. 

"I know, I know, silly Amy for not being able to carry the baby around," Amy stood up and went to the bottom drawer of the newly installed changing table, setting the clean diaper out on the top shelf with the powder and the wipes. She also set out a second diaper just to put over Jack's hips while she changed him. SHe'd been fire-hosed by her cousins before, and she wasn't going to take chances with a much bigger baby. She popped the top on the wipes and wandered back over to where Jack sat sniffling in the crib. "Come on, sad eyes." she crooned softly. "Let Amy clean you up, hmm?" She stuck out a hand and he took it, standing up and waddling over to the table. The wet diaper sagged between his legs and made the onesie Mark had dressed him in bunch up a little at the shoulders. "Hop up." Amy smiled at him and patted at the changing table mat. "There's a good baby," She praised, making him blush as he laid down and straightened out. "So good for me, not trying to get away from your diaper change." 

Amy had to admit she was surprised, as this was the first true time she'd diapered Jack. She'd thought he'd have wanted to run away or something, seeing as normally it was only Mark that took care of diaper duty. Tyler had done it a few times when he watched the boys, and Bob and Wade had as well, but Amy was still a relatively new fixture in Little Jack's life, and she wasn't truly sure how the baby felt about her. Sure, he'd smile and cuddle and coo, but...there was still some niggling feeling that he didn't really like her that much, or that maybe he only put up with her because of how he felt about Mark and how Mark felt about her. She unsnapped the onesie and pushed it up out of the way, getting the extra diaper situated over his hips before un-taping the wet one and working it down out of her way. "Boy, you must really have had to go, little one," She noted as she got a good look at the saturated material. The little paw prints were completely gone from view, a sure sign that it was a very wet diaper. "Alright, let's get you cleaned up," Amy tried to move quick, knowing the cold wipes and the cold air couldn't have felt very good to his naked private parts. Jack squirmed and whined at the sensation and she kept up a series of soft apologies as she wiped his thighs down and trashed the dirty wipes. "It's alright, almost done, baby," Amy assured him as she wiggled the dirty diaper out from under his bum and got it expertly taped up and tossed into the bin. It looked like all her experience babysitting in high school was paying off. "Lift up," She coaxed, tapping his hips. Jack obediently lifted up his bum and she slid the clean padding under him, quickly removing the extra diaper and getting him powdered and taped in. 

"There we go, sweetie." She patted his tummy softly before snapping his onesie back up. "All better, right?" She smiled at him and he gave a shy nod, dark hair sticking up all over the place. "Yeah, I thought so. Now come on, let's go and have that bottle, hmm?" 

Jack's eyes lit up and he quickly scrambled down to grab her hand again. 

"Now, we gotta go really slow on the stairs, okay? If you fall down, your Daddy is gonna kill me," Amy told him, pointing as they reached the top of the staircase. "I want you to sit down and scoot on your bottom, okay? It's a lot safer that way." 

At least he didn't get hurt. The process took twice as long, but his focused face was adorable and she didn't mind. Once they'd reached the bottom, she took his hand again. "Go sit down on the couch, and I'll get that bottle ready." She told him.

Jack blinked at her a couple times and sucked at his pacifier, a soft whine leaving his throat when he realized what she'd said. 

"Okay, alright," Amy quickly backtracked when she realized she had a clingy boy on her hands. "Come with me, then." He did, toddling on unsteady legs and plopping down in the middle of the floor to watch her make the bottle. It didn't take her long-- Mark had told her how he usually did things not long after she'd met Little Ethan and Little Jack, just in case he ever had his hands too full to make one himself. She could feel his eyes trained on her every move as she shook the warm milk up, mixing in the protein supplement. Turning around to face him, she gave him a bright smile. "Look what's done!" Jack perked up and made little insistent noises around his paci, grabby hands out in full force when he saw his Mickey Mouse bottle. "Yeah, I know, you're hungry. Now come on, let's go sit on the couch and I'll feed you." 

Quickly, Jack turned around and started crawling into the living room, diapered butt up in the air and back arched as he determinedly crawled for the sofa. Lifting up a leg, he rolled himself onto the couch and then pushed to a sitting position, whining loudly at Amy as she rounded the sofa. "Hey, no. Be polite, not grumpy." She chided him as she sat down. Jack looked the slightest bit apologetic as he crawled into her lap and lay his head on the cushion she'd propped up against the arm of the sofa. 

Amy looked warm and soft as he stared up at her from the flat of his back, a few wispy hairs hanging down into her face, the rest pulled up in a messy bun. One of Mark's stolen hoodies hung off her shoulder slightly and she was wearing a pair of soft fleece leggings. She looked...domestic. No makeup, her eyes soft as she coaxed the paci out of his mouth and let it flop to the side, hanging from its clip as she guided the bottle into his mouth. He suckled desperately, the sweet milk coating his mouth with light vanilla flavor, relaxing him. He snuggled closer with a hum, still suckling as he nuzzled at her chest lightly, completely adrift in his headspace. It was different, feeding with her than with Daddy. Daddy was warm and talked to him and rubbed his tummy, but Amy was soft and warm and quiet and smelled pretty and was comfier to lay on than Daddy. He felt safe.

It was almost spellbinding to her, feeding him and watching him cuddle up to her like that. He nuzzled at her chest and she blushed a little, following him with the bottle when he turned his head a little. Very quickly she decided she liked him all soft and quiet like this, sprawled out with heavy limbs and his fingers curled against the bottle. She could have done without the other hand migrating to her boob, but she knew it was just basic baby instinct, so she didn't dwell too much on it. When he'd drained the bottle she pulled it away from him with a little difficulty and set it on the side table. "All done," She murmured to him, and he nuzzled up to her chest again, eyes fluttering with a sated look. "Yeah, I bet you feel so much better now. Dry bottom, full tummy, what could be wrong now that you have a willing person to cuddle you?" She teased him lightly as she ran a hand through his hair. 

Jack peeked up at her and blushed shyly. 

"What is it, baby?" She asked, frowning. "What's wrong?" 

"Mama," he whispered, pointing up at her with a clumsy finger. He hid his face again, embarrassed as soon as the word had left his mouth, but he did feel like he had to tell her. 

Amy felt her pulse jump, adrenaline pumping through her. "You...you want...you want me to be your Mama?" She asked, and felt a nod against her chest. Amy tightened her hold on him and rubbed his back to soothe away his nerves. "I...that's very nice of you, baby." She may or may not have had eyes full of PMS tears. "I promise I'm gonna do my best to be a good Mama to you." she whispered to him, a few of those fat hormone charged tears sliding down her cheeks as she kissed his hair. 

Thankfully, by the time Mark and Chica were back, Amy's tears had dried and the somber mood had passed. She'd sat down in the floor on the rug with Jack and started to read him stories, the baby giggling madly and pointing at everything he thought was funny or a funny color (Mostly everything in the books, to be honest). 

Mark strolled in, Chica beside him. "Well, I see you two are having a fun time," 

Jack spit out his paci and beamed up at Mark. "Dada!" He squeaked happily, making Mark laugh deep in his chest. 

"Hi there, baby bug," he squatted down and let Jack give him kisses on his cheek. "I hope he wasn't too much trouble," he said apologetically to Amy, as Jack ran his hands through his hair and made it stand up on end. 

"Not at all." There was something he couldn't place in her voice. "He was perfect, weren't you, baby?" She cooed, and Jack nodded emphatically, making them both laugh. "Such a good boy," Amy repeated, running a fond hand through Jack's hair. 

* * *

 

It wasn't until bath time that Mark was enlightened to the mysterious note in Amy's voice. He'd gotten the baby stripped naked and deposited into the tub, and had just started in on getting his hair wet when Amy walked in with the bath toys. 

"Mama!" Jack cooed, reaching out towards Amy. 

Mark was so flabbergasted he fell down on his butt, toppling over sideways from his squatting position to look up at her as she walked over and dropped the toys into the water. "Did...Did my baby just say what I think he did?" he stuttered out, pointing at her. "To you?" 

Amy beamed and sat on the edge of the tub, kissing at Jack's fingers. "Hi, baby." She turned to her stunned boyfriend and nodded happily. "And yes, he did." 

"Well, when did this happen?" Mark wanted to know as he righted himself, voice rising in indignation. 

"This afternoon, when you were gone," she told him, distracting Jack with a rubber duck made to look like it was wearing a pumpkin outfit. "And don't raise your voice, you know it makes him nervous." 

Mark blinked long and slow at her. How dare she tell him how to take care of his own baby? How dare his own baby betray his affection, for that matter? He absently reached back forward and started to wash Jack's hair. "I..do not know how to process this." he finally said, without looking at Amy. 

Amy sighed. "Yes baby, that's very pretty," she told Jack, taking the purple octopus from him and 'oohing' over it before dropping it back in the water. "Mark, face it, you're jealous. You and Jack have been a closed system for so long, and I respect that, but it's his prerogative to choose who he lets into that system. He let in Tyler, and Ethan, he even chose to let in Bob and Wade. But I didn't think I fit into this whole thing until he chose to let me in, too." she admitted, as Jack squealed and smashed two rubber ducks together. "And I know this is very intimate and personal to both of you, but I've really felt excluded from you guys lately. Ethan and Tyler have been more inclusive of me than you guys have." She told him honestly. "I'd really like to give this a try, if you can get past the fact that you feel like you're Jack's protector. He can choose for himself who he wants to let in. Just...think about it, okay?" Amy got up and left the room, heading to Jack's room to lay out his clean clothes and night-time diaper for him. She couldn't get the warm feeling out of her stomach that she'd gotten when she realized that Jack was making an overture to her, trusting her, allowing her to have a place in a special thing for him. It felt nice. She only hoped Mark would let her in too. She really didn't want  _this_ to be the reason they started a relationship fight. 


	29. Chapter 29

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt fill from skylarlazuli, who asked: if you're still taking requests, could you do one sort of playing out the events of how jack found out he was into age regression and how mark found out?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the prompt! I've been wanting to do this ever since i started the series and just haven't gotten to it yet. I hope you enjoy!

Jack had always had a childish personality. He was loud, he liked colorful things and soft stuff and talking about how cute animals were. He was a messy eater and a restless sleeper and hated eating anything even remotely good for him. He tended towards running himself into the ground and dropping where ever he was to take a nap or even to sleep for a few hours. Much to his chagrin, he was afraid of thunderstorms. Loud noises made him jumpy and he'd only gotten over his fear of dark closets at nighttime when he was sixteen. 

It wasn't until he was a relatively well known name that he'd bumped into the age regression community completely by accident. He'd been browsing the internet, unable to sleep. Lately he'd been feeling these childish urges more and more frequently, and he wanted to know more about why he couldn't seem to get it out of his mind. He wondered if maybe he was going crazy for wanting to indulge them as much as he did. He'd actually caught himself wondering briefly during a sleepy 3 AM wake up wondering what it felt like to have someone there to take care of him, to help him if he woke up scared from a bad dream, or to help him if he cut it too close when he had to go to the bathroom. It turned out all his Googling led him to a corner of the internet that... surprisingly wanted the same thing that he did. It was interesting, and off putting at first. But he let himself become absorbed in finding out the information and becoming familiar with the terminology and soon he was quite honestly feeling the urge to try out some of the things they said. 

It took a while with his schedule of editing and uploading to get the time to go out shopping, but the next week he planned a special shopping trip just for regression things. It made him nervous, because what if someone recognized him? But he quickly put his nerves at ease by coming up with a simple lie or set of lies to use if someone got chatty. Because of course he, a twenty something male, would never be assumed automatically to be purchasing baby items for himself. He took a deep breath and entered the department store, heading boldly for the baby section with his basket. The options were overwhelming. So many blankets to choose from! Jack found himself pulling them off one by one and testing their softness against his cheek. A young mother saw him and laughed softly, gesturing to her little one in the shopping cart. "Yours is sensitive too, I'm guessing?" she asked, and he blushed, drawing the fabric away from his face. "Erm, yeh," he replied with a little nervous grin. "Poor lil guy has pretty sensitive skin," he lied, and gave a little coo and wave at the cute baby in the cart. The little girl's face lit up and she squealed happily. "She sure is a cute one," he commented as he tucked the soft yellow and grey blanket into his cart. Of all the options, it was the softest so far.

He nodded politely to the mother and kept moving down the aisle, grabbing a couple pacifiers at random and putting them into the basket, along with some of those flavored rice puffs, a few packs of baby food, some bottles, a sippy cup, a stuffed dinosaur that happened to grab his eye, and a packet of wipes. That done, he headed towards the "incontinence" aisle and stood for a moment, examining the large array of options nervously before finally just grabbing something that had 'men's' on the label and fleeing for the checkout line. "Someone's got a little one at home," the matronly checker smiled as she scanned Jack's array of baby items. "Yeah," he smiled softly, blushing again. "And me granddad's in too," he gestured to the adult diapers. "Comes at least once a month to see his only great grandson." He took the receipt and the bags, smiling at her politely as he left. He didn't exactly like lying, but he really didn't want anyone to know what he was up to either. He was relieved to be back home in the comfort of his own apartment once he'd hauled the bags up the staircase. Nobody would question him there, at least. 

Jack laid out the items on the bed, nervous as he shifted from foot to foot. He took the cup and the bottle to the kitchen, along with the food items, stowing them in a rarely used cupboard to the right of the sink. Then he returned and looked at the diapers carefully. "Bath first, I guess?" he tried hard to think of the routine for someone that small. "Yeah," he finally decided, grabbing a large pajama shirt and opening the package, taking one of the diapers with him into the bathroom and laying the bundle on the counter top. Then he bent down and started the water, plugging up the drain and tipping in some of his favorite vanilla scented bubble bath. Jack deliberately stripped down to nothing, tossed the clothes in the hamper, and stared at the tub as it filled up. "This is nuts," he said out loud, the splashing of the water very noisy in the tiled bathroom. "I must be crazy." 

* * *

 

It was very much decidedly not crazy, Jack realized over the next few months that he'd gotten into his routine. He'd started off older, maybe a toddler's age, but rapidly figured out in the few weeks that he was younger than that. The stress relief it provided him to just take a few hours at the end of a hard day to cuddle up to his blanket, put on a movie and get into a diaper was doing wonders for him mentally as well as physically. He'd even found a website and ordered an adult sized pacifier for himself, along with a couple different onesies and even another bottle. He even discovered that there were adult sized nipples that came separately, so he could modify the two bottles he already had. He was a  _very_ excited boy. 

What he  _hadn't_ counted on was his routine being interrupted by a certain overly excited red-haired friend. 

Jack had been lazily sucking away on one of his pacis, splayed out on the sofa with his blankie, wearing just a tee shirt and a diaper and watching  _Cinderella_ when the door swung open. He scrambled to sit up as he heard his name being called, but didn't have near enough time to rid himself of any of the evidence before Mark was walking into his living room, suitcase dragging behind him. Jack's tummy tightened in a very nervous anxiety filled way as the two stared at one another quietly, the movie playing on in the background. 

"Jack, is there uh, something you'd like to say to me, buddy?" Mark looked at the way the green-haired boy was holding onto the blanket for dear life, a discarded dinosaur plushie lying on the couch cushions. Poor Jack looked like he might burst into tears or throw up, but Mark couldn't tell which. He cleared his throat awkwardly. "I did call. A few times, actually. But I figured when you didn't show that you'd forgotten, so I took a cab." he explained, still looking at Jack carefully. Jack  _whimpered_ , and there was a sudden light hissing sound as he hugged the blanket closer to his chest. He wasn't wearing pants, so Mark could easily see the two blue strips down the diaper change from blue to green. 

Once he realized he was literally so scared he'd started to pee himself, that was it. Jack sat down with a squishy plop and started to cry, wailing loudly. His binky fell out of his mouth and bounced on the carpet, mouth falling open as he sobbed. What if Mark didn't want to be his friend anymore because he'd seen him like this? What if Mark thought he was a dumb baby? Or what if Mark was angry with him? The thought made him cry harder. He was so focused on his wet diaper and his own misery he didn't even notice Mark approach, flinching when a hand touched his shoulder. 

"Hey," Mark's voice was soft and a little furrow had appeared between his eyes. He didn't know exactly what this was, but he couldn't let the poor kid just sit there and cry in his own piss. "It's alright. I'm sorry I scared you, bud." Tentatively, Mark sat down and picked up the dinosaur. "Is this guy yours? He's pretty cool. What's his name?" 

Jack nodded tearfully, suitably distracted by Mark's questions. "D-D-Denny," he whispered, wiping his nose on his shirt sleeve. 

"Denny, huh? Well Denny's pretty cool. I like him. I'll bet he's really friendly." 

Jack nodded again and whimpered softly, shifting in the wet diaper. Mark put Denny to the side and reached down to grab his discarded pacifier. 

"This is yours too, I think," Mark wiped it on his jeans and held it out, but Jack didn't take it. "You don't want it?" he asked, confused. 

"M'a dumb baby," he whispered, tears sliding down his face again as he wrung his hands. 

Mark mentally kicked himself, reaching out to put a hand softly over Jack's. "No. You're not. You're my friend and I love you. Now I don't know what this is, but if you tell me it's good and it helps you, then I'm not going to be mad at you for it." 

Jack sniffled again and rubbed the blanket against his cheek in a way that was absolutely adorable. "No?" he asked, looking absolutely relieved. "Not mad?" 

"I'm not mad," he agreed with a little smile. "I promise I'm not mad. But I uh, I think you might not be too comfortable there. Do you...want my help?" he gestured vaguely toward the wet diaper and Jack blushed a cherry shade of red. 

"Mm," he let out a little distressed whine before nodding shyly. He'd never been very good at diapering himself, and he almost always leaked a little bit because of it. Maybe Mark would be better at it. 

"Okay. If you need help, then I'm going to help you." Mark gave a resolved nod and his red fluff of hair bobbed, making Jack giggle a little. "What's so funny?" Mark asked, dramatically turning his head. "Is my hair messed up?" he did it again and got another giggle. Fuck him, but that shouldn't have been so cute coming from a grown man. "Alright, alright. C'mon. Don't want you to get a rash," he decided, standing up and offering his hand curiously. Jack took it and he looked over at him. "Where to, bud? Bedroom or bathroom?" 

"Bedroom," Jack said shyly, blushing as Mark tucked the paci into his pocket for safe keeping. 

"Bedroom," Mark repeated, leading him down to the bedroom and letting his hand go once they'd reached the middle of the room. Jack had already laid out his diapering supplies earlier, so it wasn't hard for Mark to know where to look. The towel over the bedspread spoke for itself. "Go lay down," he said softly, moving around to the package and getting out a fresh diaper. He set that aside and opened the container of wipes as Jack situated himself on top of the towel, hiding his face in the blanket nervously. Mark had to admit, he was a little out of practice, but he'd done his share of babysitting. It couldn't be that different. He set the supplies beside Jack and untaped the wet diaper, moving it away from Jack's private area and quickly wiping him down. "Sorry," he mumbled when Jack flinched. "Should have realized these would be cold." he wiggled the diaper out from underneath Jack and rolled it up, tossing it into the nearby trashcan before quickly getting him into the clean one. "There!" he crowed proudly, patting at Jack's stomach. "God, you're so cute, Jackaboy," he cooed, making Jack blush. "Oh, c'mon! I've never seen you like this! You're  _adorable_!" Mark called as he went to wash his hands. 

When he came back Jack was in the same spot, sucking his thumb as he rubbed the blanket against his face and looking far more relaxed and if possible, smaller than he had when Mark had startled him. Mark smiled softly. "You can get up," he said quietly, smiling again to put him at ease just in case he was still worried about Mark hating him. "I think you have a movie to finish?" he asked, walking over towards Jack. Jack hummed around his thumb and stuck out one arm, clenching and unclenching his fist insistently. Mark instantly recognized it for the universal baby/toddler sign for 'i want to be picked up, please.' "You...want me to carry you?" he asked slowly, and Jack nodded shyly. "Um, okay. I can do that. But if I take you back in there you have to promise not to go anywhere while I shower and change clothes, okay?" Mark hefted Jack up onto his hip--the boy was surprisingly light for his lanky size-- and wandered back to the living room, plopping his diapered butt onto the sofa. "Here. Use this." he fished the paci out of his pocket and pulled at Jack's hand, replacing the thumb with the pacifier. "Suck on that and..." he reset the dvd to where it had been when he came in. "And watch that while I go shower. Deal?" he asked. Jack nodded eagerly and he ruffled his hair as he passed him to grab his suitcase. "Okay. When I'm done getting clean, I expect you to be in the same spot." 

* * *

 

Mark had a hunch he knew what was up with Jack, though he didn't say anything. He wouldn't press the matter until Jack was more himself. Instead, he bypassed the living room for the kitchen, running a hand through his damp hair as he rummaged one handed for snacks. Finding a bottle of those rice puff things you'd normally give infants to keep them from making too much noise, he pulled it down and looked for something he could put something to drink in. The next shelf up held two bottles and a sippy cup. What he'd seen after Jack's initial shock seemed to tell him that he was too young for cups, so Mark opted for the bottle instead. The one he pulled out of the cabinet had a cute panda on it, and he smiled a little as he filled it up with juice. He decided not to give Jack a portion of the puffs, in case he got upset and started to throw them around the room. Instead he chose to sit down by Jack and hand him a couple at a time. 

Jack looked a little embarrassed as Mark sat down beside him, but he was immediately distracted by the prospect of snacks. He took his paci out immediately and handed it to Mark in exchange for a bottle, which he sucked at greedily while he watched the cartoon. A moment later he felt a nudge at his elbow and looked down, only to see a hand holding out three puffs, which he accepted and shoved into his mouth. Once those were chewed and swallowed, he tugged at Mark's sleeve with tiny insistent noises. 

Mark took the whole thing in, watching studiously as Jack repeated the cycle of 'drink bottle,' 'beg for snacks', 'eat', until he'd want Mark again and pull on his sleeve. It was very very cute, and very very babyish. Something protective stirred inside of Mark, only amplifying when Jack had finished his bottle and started yawning widely. Mark put the tube of puffs on the coffee table and rubbed at Jack's arm. "Somebody's sleepy, I think." 

Jack whined and shook his head. 

"I think so. Besides, you're wet again and you need another change. C'mon," Mark stood up and held out his arms to coax. "I'll carry you again." Instantly he got a response, the green-haired boy reaching out with wet eyes. "Okay. Diaper change, then sleepy times." Mark proclaimed, carting Jack down the hallway. 

Once he'd changed him again and gotten him tucked into bed, Mark looked around till he found a Batman themed nightlight and turned it on. "There. All ready for sweet dreams." He gave one last smile as he handed Jack the dinosaur. "G'night, bud. I'll see you in the morning." 

* * *

 

Jack woke up wet and cranky, spitting his pacifier out moodily as he sat up, wet diaper squishing around his bum. The only problem was...he could never get the diapers to feel that way around his waist... or to not leak a little for that matter. He rubbed at his eyes and yawned, expression of sheer horror crossing his face as he realized what had happened last night. He flung the covers off, ran across the hall, and stopped short when he saw a mussed up bed, but no Mark. 

"Mark!" he skittered into the kitchen and saw a sleepy looking Mark standing at the counter sipping coffee. 

"Well, good morning to you too," he said, amused at the sight before him. Jack's green hair was standing up on end, and his diaper was obviously wet again, sagging between his legs. "how'd you sleep?" 

"How'd I sleep?" Jack seemed upset by the question. "You walked in on me...like this...and all you want to know is how did I sleep?" 

Mark set the cup down carefully and splayed his hands out on the countertop, leaning forward a little. "Alright. You got me. I'll admit, I'm curious. I've never known anybody directly who was involved in age regression. I've heard of people with friends who did, but I've never met anyone. You asked me last night if I was mad at you, and the answer to that is no, I'm not. I could never be mad at you when you're that darn cute," he teased a little bit. "Plus," he added on a more serious note. "This doesn't hurt anyone, and it's a healthier coping mechanism for stress and anxiety than lots of things you could be doing. So, if you need me, I'm here. Though, I don't quite know a lot about it. I'd have to do some research--"

Jack cut him off. "No. Over half of it's between sexual kinksters," he admitted, looking a bit sick. "That's just gross and I don't want you to be exposed to that. All you need to know is that I'm about a year old, I wear diapers, and I'll usually take a bottle over a sippy cup." he blushed. "By the way, you were really...nice last night. I...I wanted..." he shifted nervously, grimacing as the wet diaper brushed against him. "I wanted to know if you wanted to be my caregiver?" he blurted it all out at once, like ripping off a Band-Aid, then squeezed his eyes shut, to afraid to look at Mark after he'd asked the question. 

"Sure," Mark's tone was so nonchalant that Jack's eyes popped right open and his jaw dropped in shock. 

"Wh-you...just like that? You've just found out yer best friend is into acting like a baby and yer not gonna run?" his accent was nervously thick. 

"Course not!" Mark's face was overtaken with cheeriness, which Jack had to admit, made him feel at ease and small again. "I can't just let a little baby run around without guidance now, can I?" he walked around the counter and gave Jack a big hug. "Now c'mon, stink butt, I think somebody needs a change!" 

Jack's breath was pushed from his chest as Mark carried him towards the bedroom. SOmething light and happy curled in his tummy, and he let his guard down completely, head drooping to Mark's shoulder and fingers in his mouth as he was laid down and diapered. Mark talked to him the whole time and his voice was soft and kind, and it only pushed Jack farther under than he'd ever been. Mark picked him up again and he wrapped around him tightly. He wished every day could be like this. And maybe it could, he thought, as Mark pushed his pacifier into his mouth. 


	30. Chapter 30

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt fill for Animal_Lover76 who wanted cute fluffy Daddy Ty and Lil Eth watching a movie together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The fluff we all need rn tbh. Been a long stressful week full of anxiety so here. Bask in the cuteness and de-stress with me. (Comments are welcomed! And requests/prompts are still open btw.)

"Daddy!" 

Tyler was secretly  _very_ pleased to hear that Ethan was little as he walked into the living room. He'd been running errands all day and trying to get some of his newest footage updated and edited to go into his queue, and quite frankly, people were assholes. Everywhere he went someone had been in an absolutely foul mood (except for a couple of very nice middle school aged girls who wanted a picture with him--he'd happily obliged and let their mom take a group photo); and the collective bad mood of all of L.A. had eventually turned Tyler's mood as well. 

He marched right into the living room, after dropping all his bags on the kitchen table, and immediately picked Ethan up and hugged him to his chest tightly. 

"Daddy!" Ethan squeaked, giggling a little bit. "Daddy, too tight! Can't breathe!" Ethan flopped his head back dramatically. 

"Sorry, baby," Tyler apologized, and let up a little bit, not putting Ethan down but instead swapping him from straddling his stomach to sitting on his hip. "Daddy's had a long day with lots of mean people. He needs lots of hugs to make it better." 

Ethan nodded and kissed Tyler's cheek. It was very wet and entirely open mouthed, but hey, the sentiment behind it was pure. He'd take it. "I love you!" Ethan squeaked, and hugged Tyler around the neck.

"Oh, thank you, baby boy!" Tyler gushed, rubbing at Ethan's back. "That's so sweet of you. I feel better already!" He carried Ethan into the kitchen and sat him on the counter top while he made a cup of juice for him. "You want some apple juice, bud?" 

Ethan made grabby hands. "Please! And..." he bounced on his butt a little, excited. "And can we watch movies?" he begged, taking the cup from Tyler. "And cuddles?" Ethan's big puppy eyes were so comedic almost that Tyler couldn't help but laugh softly. 

"Sure. You go on in there and wait for me, though. I gotta go change clothes real fast." Tyler helped him down and Ethan scrambled for the sofa, squeaking happily to himself. 

"Mable!" he said excitedly, picking up the stuffed dragon and hugging her tight. "Mable, Daddy's home!" 

Tyler trudged up the stairs, already feeling a little bit better as he rummaged around in his chest of drawers, tugging out a pair of sweats and a ratty old tee shirt that was too gross to wear in public but excellent for sleeping or lounging. Once he'd changed his clothes, Tyler was back down the stairs and onto the sofa in no time, Ethan curling up at his side with a big contented sigh. Tyler didn't trust Ethan to be able to pick what he wanted to watch right now, being that he was deeply in headspace and too many options tended to lead to overwhelmed tantrums when the ADHD was running high. Judging from the half finished set of about six color sheets strewn across the coffee table, it hadn't been a very productive afternoon for Ethan, until Tyler had come home. "Why doesn't Daddy pick something for us to watch?" 

Ethan nodded, sucking at his thumb softly. "Mm, Daddy pick. Too many." he explained as Tyler called up Netflix. 

"There were too many, and you couldn't pick?" 

"Uh huh. Tried and got mad. Then coloring, but...too many colors and couldn't decide. Daddy's good at makin' 'cisions." he said sagely, nuzzling at Tyler's bicep as he scrolled down the list of movies on Ethan's little headspace profile. 

"That's okay, baby boy. You don't always have to be the best at making decisions. It's just hard sometimes. But that doesn't mean anything bad. It just means that sometimes you need a break from having to choose between so many confusing options." Tyler finally decided on  _Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs_. They both liked it and were engaged by the plot. Not to mention the bright colors and quirky animation style. 

In a matter of moments Tyler had gotten the movie started and reached over to grab one of the queen size throws from the basket by the sofa, safely and securely wrapping he and Ethan both in a soft cocoon of coziness. Ethan curled up against him, loosely gripping at his shirt, and Tyler pulled a spare pacifier from the drawer in the end table, exchanging Eth's fingers for the paci. Oh yes, this was exactly the medicine he needed at the end of a long day. 


	31. Chapter 31

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt from G3LOKO. Ties in with chapter 28 of this one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> G3LOKO sent me the CUTEST FUCKING PROMPT the other day: 
> 
> [Maybe if Mark can see Amy being mommy and see how well she does with the baby, like maybe Mark goes to take a nap or something and jack becomes little while he’s asleep and rather than disturb Mark, Amy takes care of jack and Mark wakes up and can hear jack and Amy giggling downstairs so he sneaks down the stairs to check on them without them knowing and sees by far the fluffiest/cutest/sweetest sight he’s ever seen. Like jack in a onesie, laying on his blankie and Amy making silly faces at him and tickling his tummy and just ALL CUTE!! And Amy says something off handed while playing with him like “I hope your daddy knows I’m not trying to take his place, i just want to be apart of this, because I love your daddy and I’m starting to love you too” and she had this moment of quiet just staring at jack and jacks staring at her and she kinda gets emotional and says “because I really want to be your mommy and I want you to be my baby” and she kisses his forehead AND I HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS ABOUT THIS AND I NEED TO STOP BEFORE I WRITE AN ENTIRE DRABBLE IN YOUR COMMENTS SECTION BUT CAN YOU PLEASE DO SOMETHING WITH THIS WORD VOMIT I HAVE PRESENTED.]
> 
>  
> 
> G3LOKO, i hope you like it. I definitely did something with your word vomit. I love when i get in depth prompts like that it makes it so easy to know i'm not fucking up what someone wants because they didn't give me enough of a prompt to go on.

Mark, Amy, and Jack had all had a really long last few days of putting out content. Amy had filmed, Mark and Jack had collaborated and edited (to give their editors a holiday they well deserved), and Chica had been the absolute unintentional star of most of their videos. However, it left them drained by about day three. On day four, everyone woke up late. Amy trudged downstairs in her nightie and started coffee. Mark had mumbled something grumpily over his shoulder as she left, so she decided to plan on his not making it to breakfast. Jack appeared soon, tousle-haired and smiling bashfully at Chica as she pranced around his legs. 

"You need to go out, girl?" Jack asked, and Chica yelped. "I'll just go let her out." he mumbled to Amy, heading across the house and letting Chica out into the courtyard. He returned for his coffee a moment later. 

"Pajama day?" Amy asked tentatively. 

Jack groaned softly. "That sounds heavenly," he lisped, frowning at his burnt tongue. "Also, that coffee is still very not. Probably shouldn't have immediately drank it without letting it cool first." 

Amy just laughed at him till he scowled and she raised a hand, drifting over to peck Mark on his cheek when he finally made his sleepy appearance. 

* * *

 

Their pajama day in was just what the doctor ordered. They lounged on the sofa. They watched Netflix. They ordered pizza. They just relaxed. However, at around two in the afternoon, Mark let out another almighty yawn and stood up. "Going upstairs," he murmured through the yawn. "Spent most of last night trying to get the audio right on the last clip of us from the park. Didn't get lots of sleep, so I'm gonna go take a little nap." 

"Okay," Amy smiled softly at him and he leaned down to kiss her deeply. 

"I love you." 

"I love you too." 

"I'm still here!" Jack said teasingly, raising his hands. "Hello, earth to love birds!"

Amy scowled at him and Mark pretended to be surprised as he turned. "Sean? What are you doing here?" he put a hand to his chest. "Are...are you cheating on me with Amy?" 

"Hey," Amy smacked his arm lightly. "Don't even joke about that, you know I would never." 

He sobered up and kissed her cheek. "You're right, babe. Alright, I'm going up. Nobody wake me up unless there's a fire or something." Mark disappeared up the stairs, Chica following him. 

"Don't expect we'll see much of him for another couple hours." Jack commented softly. 

"We definitely won't." She agreed. "Now. To the important stuff. While he's asleep we can watch whatever we want!" 

His eyes widened. "You're on. It's chick flicks and rom-coms for days!" 

Amy laughed softly. "Romantic comedy it is then!" 

* * *

 

They were only about halfway through some generic Hallmark love story when Jack felt the tugging at the back of his mind. It was almost overwhelming, the urge he felt to let go and regress. He hadn't been the best at reminding himself to keep a normal schedule while Signe was away at her parents'. She'd been a good babysitter for him, but she was nothing like Mark...or Amy. He looked over at her and rubbed his thumb against the bottom of his lip, thinking. Maybe he could wait till Mark was up? But then the tug at his brain came stronger and he decided he couldn't fight the urge anymore. Jack scooted over shyly and tugged at the sleeve of her nightgown softly. 

"What is it?" Amy turned, took one look at him, and felt a little jump of excitement in her belly. Sean was little! And she was alone with him! She'd been dying to spend more time with him ever since he'd called her "mommy", but with distance and other obligations, that hadn't happened since the last time. Amy bit her lip. But there was still the matter of Mark to contend with...was he still jealous? Did he even want her in on this family the two of them had created? Jack tugged at her sleeve again and she blushed, realizing she hadn't truly answered his insisting. Amy took a deep breath. 

"Does somebody feel little?" 

Jack blushed and nodded, and she felt a smile blossom over her face, soft and soothing and nurturing. 

"Aw, that's okay, buddy! Why don't you and me go upstairs and get you changed into something better suited to little boys? Then we can come back downstairs and play for a little bit?" 

He nodded shyly, thumb fully in his mouth now as he watched her pause the movie and stand up, holding out a hand. "Come on, sweet boy." Amy's voice was so gentle he couldn't help but stand up and take her hand, letting her lead him upstairs and into his room. "Do you want to help me pick out a onesie?" 

Jack stared at the chest of drawers Amy was pointing to and nodded. She slid the drawer open and he blinked down at the colorful array of fabrics, finally jabbing his finger at one that was white, arms and leg holes ringed in yellow fabric and the white body covered with little yellow ducks. 

"Okay, smart boy. Duckies it is!" Amy couldn't keep her excitement out of her voice as she pulled it out and shut the drawer, guiding him over to the changing table. "Alright," she set the onesie on the shelf under the changing mat and reached out. "Let's get you out of those big boy clothes, hmm?" Efficiently, Amy stripped Jack of the pajama pants and loose top he wore, throwing them into the laundry hamper next to the changing table. Then she reached forward and tugged his boxers down. He flushed a deeper shade of red and she cooed softly. "Don't be afraid, baby. Mommy will take good care of you," she reminded him, looking up from under her hair with a smile. Just as she'd wished, he immediately did what she wanted, seeming more relaxed and at ease now that she had embraced the role he had given her. She'd been wanting to say that word for a while now. Amy tossed the dirty underwear on top of the pajamas and patted at the changing table. "Up we go, time for a diaper change!" 

Jack wiggled his way up and lay down, staring up at the glowy stars stuck to the ceiling above the changing table and falling deeper and deeper into his headspace by the minute as Amy diapered him. She was gentle but careful, and once she'd diapered him she rubbed his tummy and it made him relax more. 

"Sweet boy," She whispered as she unfolded the onesie. "Good boy," She lightly rubbed at his tummy a little more before holding out the onesie. "Sit up, baby." She requested, watching as he struggled to sit up and feeling upset that she wasn't quite as strong as Mark. She couldn't help him when his motor function started to regress too. "There's my smart boy, what a good boy, Mommy loves you so much," she continued to praise him as she dressed him, leaving the snaps dangling for a moment while she slipped a clean pair of socks onto his feet. "And now we stand up," She held his hands as he slid down and then maneuvered him so he was leaning against the changing table while she snapped the snaps up. "And we're all done! What a good boy you are, Jack!" 

Jack  _beamed_ at the praise, wiggling from head to foot as she clipped his paci to his neckline. He immediately replaced his fingers with the favored paci, sucking on it soothingly while Amy gathered up his blankie and his play mat. 

"Alright, time to go back downstairs!" Amy tucked the items under one arm and had him take her hand, making him scoot down the stairs again because she didn't want him to fall. Once she'd gotten him to the living area she unfolded the play mat and lay it out on the floor. "Now baby, you lay down for Mommy and she'll go find a book to read!" she left his blanket on the mat and fished out a book at random from the shelf. 

* * *

 

Jack was good as gold while she got him ready and then while she read him a book, but just as she'd finished reading he started to get fussy. "What's all that, baby?" she asked, setting the book aside. Seeming upset about something, Jack wiggled until he was on his tummy instead of his back, hands supporting his upper body as he drooled a little and his pacifier dangled down. "Did somebody just get tired of sitting in the same spot?" she asked, and poked his nose playfully. Jack giggled and she started to make some faces at him, driven by the infectious laughter she received in return. Their little game was amusing for the both of them, but eventually laughing meant someone had to stop and take a breath. 

Amy let him breathe for a bit, stroking his cheek fondly. "Mommy loves you, but she's a little upset that Daddy doesn't seem to want her around you," she confided as she gently maneuvered him so he was back on his back again, staring up at her with wide blue eyes. Amy waved her fingers around and he kicked his feet softly, reaching up to try and grab her hands. "I hope your Daddy knows that I'm not trying to take his place or anything," she continued, feeling a weight inside of her. "I just love your Daddy, and I've really started to love you too," Amy's voice dropped to a whisper and she reached down, grunting as she lifted him into her arms. She held him close and he cooed quietly, nuzzling at her shoulder. "I really want to be your Mommy...and I'd love it if your Daddy let you be my baby." She whispered, tearing up and sniffling. 

Mark lurked in the hallway, overwhelmed by the sight he'd just taken in. Amy looked so natural sitting there with Jack, and Jack looked so goddamn cute in the duck onesie Wade got him for Christmas. But what really got to him was Amy's last few words to the baby. He took a deep breath and stepped into the room. 

"What's this? You hoggin' my boy's cuddles?" He tried to brighten his voice as Jack squeaked and pointed at him. 

Amy gently lowered him down to the mat again and swiped at her eyes, hating that he'd walked in on her crying. "Uh, no. I mean, he's a really good cuddler, but.." She gave a smile that fell flat and then sighed as Jack started to suck at his hand. "Mark, why were you so upset?" She asked, swapping the fingers for the paci that Jack had clipped to him--clipped to him and he still lost it! Their baby was so silly sometimes. Amy put the paci into Jack's mouth and blinked. 'Their baby?' had she really just thought of him as theirs? She turned back to Mark. "Mark, I know I can't take your place, but...I'd love to be his Mommy." She rubbed at Jack's tummy softly to soothe both herself and the clearly sleepy boy. "He wants me to, and...I think I could be really good at it. But it wouldn't be in place of you. I'd be doing it with you." 

Mark raised a hand with a guilty expression. "I know, Ames. I know. I was kinda a dick last time, but...I didn't know what to do because he's never really wanted another primary caregiver before you. Sure, he loves his uncles, but I had never thought we'd be to a place where he'd be able to or even want to have two primary caregivers. Much less a Mommy. I should have talked to you about this weeks ago. But I needed some time to process. I'm selfish with him, I know that. I don't want to share him, and I realize how that must come across. But if anyone is going to take good care of him and never do wrong by him, it's you. I love you and I'm sorry. Amy Nelson, will you by the Mommy of my overgrown man-baby?" Mark tried to joke, but he hated how it sounded the minute it left his lips. 

Amy shook her head fondly. "Alright. But promise never to call our baby that again." 

"Done." 


	32. Chapter 32

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Monica+Hijac wanted a suuuper little Ethan, so here you go!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sick and I feel awful, so once again one of the peeps must suffer with me. Poor Amy has some serious period related sickness, but Ethan's feeling far tinier than normal, and Tyler can't just let Amy suffer alone when Mark is gone visiting his mom. 
> 
> Pls don't read this if vomit and period related talk aren't your jam. Nothing graphic, but it does mention things.

Amy moaned weakly as she leaned against the toilet, nausea overwhelming her once more. As if it weren't enough that she had to deal with the standard sore boobs and horrible cramping, now her body had decided to pile on with vomiting, headaches, and intermittent nausea. She reached a heavy hand up and flushed the toilet, simply laying there limply for a moment before she found the resolve to push to her feet, stumbling the last few steps to the bed and curling up into a tiny ball, begging the nausea to recede so she could sleep till morning. 

* * *

 Tyler had been up with Ethan for three hours already when Amy dragged herself into the kitchen. Tyler had made good use of Jack's highchair, seeing as he wasn't staying with them and Ethan was far smaller than normal (though he couldn't say he didn't enjoy it), and Ethan was currently attempting to feed himself single cheerios as Tyler stirred up some oatmeal. "Jeez, you look horrible," Tyler said without thinking as she leaned against the counter and rummaged for the tin of teabags. "I uh, I didn't mean..." 

"S'okay," Amy assured him tiredly as she dropped a bag of chamomile into a mug. "I know I look like a mess, but my body is rebelling against existing today." She started heating up the electric kettle, flinching as Ethan smacked at the tray with his hands. 

"Ethan," Tyler scolded gently. "Baby, please be quiet. Amy's sick and you being loud doesn't help." 

"No," Amy insisted, looking pained. "It's alright, it's fine. Just...gonna grab this tea and head back upstairs to my nest, and try not to die," She whispered the last part as she left the kitchen slowly, shuffling so she didn't jostle the tea and spill. 

Tyler sat down and started feeding Ethan the oatmeal. Ethan was adorable, like a baby bird as he tried to eat the little bites Tyler offered him. "There we go, honey," he cooed softly. "No more empty tummy. But just between me and you, I think Amy could use some cheering up today. So what do you say you and me put together somewhere nice and cozy that the three of us can watch a movie, huh?" Ethan hummed softly and Tyler leaned forward to wipe some food off his chin. "You're so sweet like this, baby boy," He murmured. It was a rare treat to see Ethan smaller than his usual three to four year age range, but he did miss his boy's enthusiasm. 

Once he'd finished up feeding Ethan and grabbed a couple Pop-Tarts for himself, Tyler took Ethan back upstairs to his room, sitting him down on the bed while he dragged around a few pieces of furniture and set up a makeshift tent over the bed. Moving into the bathroom, he got out his heating pad and plugged it in, setting it to the side. Once he was satisfied that Ethan had his paci and wouldn't roll off the bed, he headed across to Mark's room and knocked softly. "Hey, Amy?" he stuck his head in. 

"What's up?" She asked, looking miserable as she paused whatever she was watching on the tv.

"Ethan and I were wondering if you wanted to watch Winnie The Pooh with us." 

Amy rubbed her forehead softly. "Only if you have any Pepto left. I drank the last of mine last night." 

"I'll go check." Tyler moved over to his bathroom and rooted around in the cabinet. "You're in luck Ames," he held out the bottle to her. "Here you go. We set up a blanket fort with a heating pad for you." 

Amy took a dose of medicine and smiled weakly. "Sounds great. Thanks." She took the offered hand and followed him across the hall, curling up on top of his bedspread with the heating pad in the small of her back. Ethan let out a little questioning coo and snuggled up to her side. "Mm, hi baby," Amy murmured absently, as Tyler sat down and started queuing up the movie. 

"Ethan, don't lean on Amy, bud. She's sick," Tyler chided, tugging Ethan into his lap. 

"I've never seen him this small," she murmured. "It's cute." 

"It is pretty cute," Tyler agreed. "He doesn't really get like this much, but I think he's just been far more sleep deprived than usual, so he woke me up by sitting on me." he poked Ethan's nose and Ethan laughed. 

"Okay, so that's even cuter," Amy said, taking a sip of her tea as the movie started playing. "Also, thank you for this, by the way. It's way harder dealing with this when Mark's not here. It's no fun puking your guts up at three AM when you have to be alone. I'm glad I've got you guys." 

Tyler smiled and tucked Ethan's blanket closer around his shoulders. "No problem." he murmured, settling in comfortably.

 


	33. Chapter 33

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mark and Jack have a cute moment with Chica.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey it's been fifty years since I last updated and I'm super slow, but I still love you guys, i'm still here, and i still love these babies. Have a cute fluffy short piece in apology.

Mark had just been out on the patio with Chica, the late morning sun reflecting off the bottom of her water bowl and making her try to 'attack' the shiny reflection. He'd thought that Jack had been sleeping, but five minutes into filming the video, a sleepy boy wandered out of the door and clambered into Mark's lap. He stopped filming and let Jack adjust himself in his lap, then turned the camera back on. The viewers should be able to hear both their laughter, and Mark's quiet comments to Chica, but he hoped they wouldn't be able to figure out that Jack was actually sitting in his lap. Chica pawed at the dish, sloshing more water over the lip of the bowl and Jack laughed tiredly. 

"Silly bub!" Mark teased Chica softly, as she realized that her dog tags were also reflecting light, making another little flash of light on the concrete. "What a silly girl, Chica, you're so good! Get it! Get that mean light!" He laughed again, as Chica whined and went in circles, trying to pick which she wanted to chase. Jack giggled again, and Mark knew the comment section would go crazy when they realized Jack's latest video post meant he was going to be in LA visiting Mark. He finally capped the video at six minutes of usable footage, then put his phone on the table to cuddle Jack. 

"Good morning baby boy," Mark cooed happily, wrapping his arms around Jack's middle. "Did you have a good sleep? How's your tummy today? Are you still upset from the flight?" 

Jack looked over his shoulder at Mark and whined softly. Mark gave him a smile. "Still a little icky? That's okay. We'll get you some medicine and then get you something to eat for breakfast." He stood up and adjusted Jack, ignoring the rest of the tired whines as he carried him into the kitchen and got him settled into the high chair. While he was setting out to make Jack a bottle and get him some medicine for his stomach, Amy came downstairs, dressed for the day in sweatpants and a light sweatshirt. "Good morning," she murmured. 

Jack reached out to her eagerly and she laughed as she supplied the requested kisses. "How's the sick baby today?" She asked Mark as she turned around. 

"Still a little sick, but nothing we can't handle between the two of us," he told her, and risked a quick kiss. Jack tended not to care much about PDA when he was little, but it always made him miss Signe when they kissed and he was Big. Amy pulled away and ran a hand through Jack's hair. 

"Don't worry, baby. You'll feel better in no time." She told him, rubbing at his back as Mark got him to take his medicine. "It's icky I know, but you'll feel better soon and then you get to have a bottle!" She coaxed. 

Jack's whining soon dissolved into complete tears, not stopping until Mark and Amy had moved everything to the sofa and had him squished up between them, feet in Amy's lap and torso in Mark's. Mark got him to finally accept the bottle after several minutes of struggling. He looked over at Amy as Jack sucked softly on the bottle. 

"It's going to be a long day." 

"But we love him," she pointed out softly. "He needs this. We don't begrudge him any of this, right?" 

"Oh, hell no." Mark clarified. "I love him, he's just a little fussy today, that's all." 


	34. Chapter 34

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt fill: phanielspiano asked for Jack caring for Little Ethan!   
> I hope you like it!

Jack was rudely pulled from his post-flight nap by a very little Ethan bouncing up and down on the mattress beside him. "Jaaaaaaack!" Ethan hollered, holding Mable close and bouncing some more. "Jack, will you play with me? Daddy and Uncle Mark went to do icky grownup things like grocery shopping, and they said I had to stay here!" he flopped down dramatically, making Jack bounce even more. 

"Mnnng," Jack was a little tired-confused, rubbing at his face with both hands. "Mmm, Ethan, please don't bounce like that," he begged. "And use your inside voice." Jack pushed himself up groggily.

"Sorry, but...I wanna play!" Ethan hugged Mable some more, pouting up at Jack. 

"Yeah, just... just hang on a minute. Lemme brush my teeth and change clothes." Jack stood up clumsily and stumbled to the bathroom, managing to splash some water on his face and get his teeth brushed. Feeling slightly more awake, he moved back into the room and steadfastly ignored the crib in the corner that seemed to be calling his name in favor of changing into a sweatshirt and a pair of sweatpants--more comfortable attire for dealing with an excitable toddler. "Alright, come on. What do you want to play?" he asked, holding out a hand. 

Ethan bounded over and took it happily, pressing right up to Jack's side as they moved towards the staircase. "Mm...Wanna play with play-dough?" 

"Sure." Jack agreed, sinking down onto the carpet beside Ethan and letting Ethan get the tub down from the shelf and bring it over to the coffee table. "What do you want to make?" 

Ethan put Mable on to the sofa as he sat down and Jack began to pull out containers of the modeling dough. "Ummm...let's play kitchen!" Ethan suggested, tugging out the molding equipment to make 'food.' 

"Okay." Jack agreed easily, taking out the green and blue. "I'm gonna make hot dogs. What are you gonna make?" 

Ethan pulled out the red and the orange. "Um...gonna make spaghetti." he squeaked, letting Mable watch from her perch on the sofa. 

"Sounds good." The two lapsed into concentrated silence as they made their 'food' creations. It wasn't until a little squeak from Ethan brought him out of his reverie that Jack looked up from his play-dough. "Uh, you okay? Do you have to go potty?" he asked pointedly, raising a brow. 

Ethan shook his head, biting his lip. "No..." he hedged, squirming a little. 

"Ethan, if you have to go, just go and come right back, the toys will still be here when you get back." Jack pointed out. 

Ethan scrambled quickly,heading for the hallway bathroom and leaving a little trail of clothing behind him as he hurried to make it so he didn't have a complete accident. Tyler had put him in a pull-up before he and Mark had left, so his clothes wouldn't get ruined. But the panic was still there. 

Jack waited with bated breath, hoping he wouldn't have to help with anything bathroom related. "Ethan?" he called after a moment or two. "How's it going, buddy?" 

A beat or two passed before Ethan hollered back from the bathroom. "Good! I didn't have an accident!" 

"That's good!" Jack replied, mentally cheering that he didn't have to actually help with that part of things. "Wash your hands!" he called as an afterthought. 

Ethan scampered back into the room a moment later, in a fresh pull-up and grinning from ear to ear. "I did it!" he squeaked, as he wriggled back into his pajamas. 

"Good for you." Jack smiled softly at him. "Now c'mon. Let's finish up with this play-dough and then we can have a bit of a snack, yeah?" 

"Yeah!" Ethan wiggled happily. "Goldfish and apple sauce, please?" 

"Sure, we can do that." Jack was surprised how easy it was to interact with Ethan, even though he was certain that after Mark returned he was going to slip himself. He managed to keep himself together well enough, though, getting Ethan to put the play-dough up without fussing at all with the promise of snacks. "Right. You go into the kitchen and I'll put this lot up." he told the young one with a little smile, watching Ethan pick up Mable and scamper away. 

He put up the toys and then wandered into the kitchen, getting Ethan his snacks and then having a handful of Goldfish for himself. "What do you want to do after we have a snack?" he asked, sitting down at the table across from him. 

Ethan shrugged and ate a spoonful of his applesauce. "Nap." he mumbled. 

"You want to take a nap? Alright, buddy. You can take a nap." he agreed. 

Unfortunately for him, Ethan's idea of a nap meant cuddling with Jack until he fell asleep, which, it turned out...was actually just what Jack needed. They ended up falling asleep in a pile on the sofa, only waking up when Tyler poked him in the back so that he could readjust his position. 

"Bud, sit up. You're going to get a crick in your neck, and I'll take care of Ethan." 

"Mmmm... kay." he mumbled, sitting up tiredly and reaching for Mark as he appeared in front of him. "Help," he mumbled weakly, and Mark laughed. 

"Somebody got really little really fast," Mark mumbled, and Jack grunted softly. "That's okay. I missed you." he kissed Jack's cheek and Jack nuzzled into his neck contentedly. 


	35. Chapter 35

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt fill for a_local_lesbian and also for RainbowStalker who both wanted to see how Tyler and Ethan got started with a regression relationship. 
> 
> So this will be part one of two parts because I feel better about splitting it in half like the one where Mark finds out about Ethan and Tyler.
> 
> Part 1/2

Tyler had long been on the lookout for a Little he could call his own. He had a naturally nurturing personality, and he tended not to judge people's coping mechanisms. He definitely knew he wasn't in it for the kinky side of things, since that came too close to actual kids being involved in sex acts for his taste. But the problem was, Littles involved in age regression tended to be scattered around the country, even if they participated in the same forums online. So even though he had a few Littles that tended to come to him for advice as a caregiver...none of them were in his region and available for him to actually take care of. Which grated on his mind. 

However... once he met Ethan, things seemed like they might start moving forward for him. They became friends via Mark's connection to Ethan, and over the months of working together, Tyler began to notice a certain pattern emerge. Ethan was cranky in the morning and late afternoon, forgot to eat, forgot to go to the bathroom until it was a near emergency when he was hyper-focusing on something, and more often than not didn't get much sleep while he was editing videos. It constantly had Tyler on caregiver overload, always wanting to help the boy out by leaving him food or telling him to go take a nap, but he knew it probably wouldn't be received well. So he just sort of...sat back and watched. He gathered information, making a list of things that seemed to push Ethan closer to headspace, for future reference. 

One night, approaching Christmas Eve, Tyler risked a bit of online shopping for Ethan. In a fit of full on caregiver headspace, Tyler indulged himself, buying a bright blue pacifier and a stuffed dragon on a whim, along with a plain yellow soft blanket that Ethan might be able to completely wrap himself up in if he wanted to. He had no idea if Ethan was a Little, or if he was what his age was, but he was at least going to start by giving him the dragon. He'd see what happened and go from there. If Ethan responded favorably to it then...maybe they could work something out. 

Nervously, Tyler waited a whole two weeks before finally deciding to give Ethan his surprise. "Hey, Eth?" Tyler stuck his head out of his room and in a moment Ethan had come across the hall. 

"What's up?" Ethan asked, noticing Tyler's nervous body language and frowning a little. 

"Can you come in here, please?" Tyler asked, gesturing inside his room. 

"Uh, sure?" Ethan followed him inside, growing more uneasy as Tyler shut the door. 

"Don't look so scared," Tyler gave him a crooked smile. "I just wanted to give you your first present!" 

"Present?" Ethan looked confused. 

"For Christmas?" 

"Oh! That kind of present!" Ethan perked up a little. 

"Yeah, what kind did you think?" Tyler laughed a little as he retrieved the bag from his closet that held the dragon. 

Ethan shrugged. "I dunno." he bounced a little on the balls of his feet. "Now what'd you get me?" he reached out. 

Tyler chuckled. "Here you go." he held out the bag. "It's um...just a little something. Not much. But I thought you'd like it." 

Ethan took the parcel curiously, setting it on the bed and opening it. "Oh..." the little reverent sound that came out of Ethan's mouth when he pulled the dragon from the bag, and Tyler had a feeling his instincts were right on the nose. 

"Do you like it?" he asked nervously, leaning forward a little bit in his fit of nerves. 

"Uh, no I...I do I just...why this?" Ethan asked back, examining the dragon closely. 

"I just thought you'd like it, is all. If...if you don't want it you can give it back and I'll exchange it." 

"No!" Ethan curled protectively around the dragon, holding it to his chest. "No, I uh...I want it," he mumbled, looking petulant and small, and making Tyler want to hug him. "T-thank you," Ethan hummed. 

Tyler watched him for a few more moments, as he further examined the dragon, petting the fluffy fabric and watching the way the wings sparkled in the light. It was so adorable, Tyler had to ask. "Hey, Eth? Uh, are you...um...are you uh...are you a Little?" 

Ethan frowned. "A little what?" he petted the dragon some more and held it at arm's length. "I'm gonna call her Mable!" he said happily, and Tyler smiled. 

"That's a good name. No, I meant like...an age regressor. A Little." 

"What's that mean?" Ethan sat down cross legged on Tyler's bed and cuddled his new soft dragon friend, looking up at Tyler. 

"A lot of people didn't have a great childhood, or react to stress or anxiety by taking on either voluntarily or involuntarily, a childlike mindset. For all intents and purposes they are the age they act like. Some are babies, some are toddlers, and some are teens or elementary schoolers." he explained, sitting down by Ethan and looking at him. Ethan's blank look told him what he needed to know. 

"Well...if it helps you at all, I've been a part of a lot of forums and if you're curious we can talk more soon." 

Ethan cuddled with his dragon some more and looked at Tyler seriously. "I'm curious." he agreed. "Let's talk soon." 

 


	36. Chapter 36

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 2/2 detailing how Tyler and Ethan became engaged in an AgeRe relationship.

It was a few more weeks before Tyler and Ethan finally had a chance to settle down and talk. They'd gone home for a week after Christmas to spend time with their families before things picked up again job wise. They'd met at the airport to carpool home, and Tyler could tell that Ethan was nervous. "You wanna grab some food on the way back?" He asked, looking over at Ethan. 

"Sure." 

"What do you want?" he wanted to make sure that Ethan was as comfortable as possible, if he wanted what he thought he wanted. So the least Tyler could do was get him something to eat that he wanted. 

"McDonald's?" 

"We can get McDonald's." Tyler agreed easily, flicking on his blinker and changing lanes smoothly. "What do you want? I'll order for both of us." 

"Fries, Dr Pepper, and nuggets."

"We can do that." Tyler looked over and gave him a little smile as he pulled into the drive thru. Minutes later, the car was filled with the scent of fries as they wound back through the traffic towards the house. Occasionally the silence was broken by Ethan rummaging around for another fry, the paper bags crinkling. "Right," Tyler spoke up as they pulled into the driveway. "You take that inside, go get plates and stuff, and I'll wrangle the suitcases inside. Sound good?" 

Ethan nodded, mouth full of fries. "M'kay." he mumbled, and Tyler gave him a reproachful look. "Sorry," he mumbled, gathering up the food and heading inside. 

Tyler juggled his and Ethan's carry-on bags, tugging the suitcases with one hand as he made his ungainly way up the steps. He left them in a pile at the foot of the steps and wandered into the kitchen, plopping down at the table across from Ethan and tugging his food out of the bag. "Thought I said to get plates?" 

Ethan shrugged and stuffed another nugget into his mouth. "Didn't want to. Takes too long." 

"It takes too long to grab a paper plate and put food on it? Damn, Eth, you must be hangry. Do flights always make you hangry?" he teased, taking a bite of his burger. 

Ethan paused a moment between inhaling chicken nuggets to flip Tyler off. Tyler chuckled into his burger. "I'll take that as a 'yes'." 

They ate in silence as they finished up their meal, Tyler pushing to his feet and waving Ethan back down. "No, I'll get it. You want to head in the living room? I wanna talk to you." 

Ethan silently scurried into the living area, disappearing from Tyler's line of sight for a moment as he threw their garbage into the recycle bin. He heard a zip of a suitcase, and when he wandered into the room, Ethan was cuddling with Mable as he sat on the sofa, a blanket draped over his shoulders. It made Tyler want to give him the one he'd gotten for him, but he knew he had to take things slow. Instead he kicked off his shoes and dropped down into an armchair, facing Ethan comfortably. "You ready to talk?" he asked comfortably. 

Ethan hugged Mable closer, looking a little nervous. "Um, yeah. I read the packet you gave me to read on the plane. It was um...good. Thanks. It was nice to get the background of things and to see some of the questions and answers and advice you'd given other people. But. I do have a few other questions. You...you say in your profile that..." Ethan fidgeted a little bit. "That you...wanted to... to take care of somebody. I...I was wondering if that might...maybe...extend to-to me...trying this whole thing." he mumbled, not looking up from Mable. 

Tyler felt a little flutter in his stomach as he looked over at Ethan. "I do say that," he murmured softly. "I don't want you to rush into anything. If you think you've thought about it enough then I'd be happy to walk you through it," he offered. "But only if you're comfortable with that. But I think we need to maybe talk about ground rules first, what age you think you might land at. A lot of people aren't comfortable going very small at first, but what they do is start out older and then see how they feel. Most people end up fluctuating in age as they experiment with it. How old do you think you might like to be, just to start out with?" 

"Um. Not super small. Maybe in the five to seven age range." 

"Okay. Cool. When did you want to start?" Tyler asked, having to tell himself not to move too fast. 

Ethan shrugged. "Don't know. Thought you'd be able to be in charge of this, isn't that your job?" 

"Okay, alright, hold the sass." Tyler couldn't help it. He felt his caregiver side rear up at the sass being shown to him. "I will if you want me." he looked at Ethan with a hopeful look. "Do you want me?" 

Ethan looked at Tyler, calculating. Everything about him screamed 'safe' and 'protective' and 'responsible' and it only made him want to agree just so that he could maybe get a hug out of it. "Yes," he whispered, hugging Mable tightly to his chest. 

Tyler perked up so much that Ethan had to think he'd made a good decision, he just looked so hopeful. "Really? I-I mean... I've never had...I've never actually had someone close enough to look after before." 

"W-well...you can start with me?" Ethan asked tentatively. 

"I'd like that." Tyler replied with a soft smile. 

* * *

 

A pattern had emerged over the next few weeks. Ethan and Tyler would retire for the night after they'd gotten their work done, then Tyler would go make sure Ethan had brushed his teeth and taken his shower, and they'd go into Tyler's room for a bit of down time before bed. The first two weeks Ethan had hovered around seven or eight, but after that, he'd gradually started sinking smaller and smaller. By the time they'd been interacting for four weeks, Ethan's headspace had dropped completely to about three or four. Tyler'd been given a crash course in what Little Ethan was like, and he'd been mentally cataloguing every scrap of information he came across. So far he'd learned that Ethan had poor bladder control, liked Goldfish crackers, got VERY cranky when he was tired, and sucked his thumb. Tyler didn't like that very much, and he thought that tonight might be a good opportunity to give Ethan the pacifier he'd bought a while ago. 

"Hey, bud?" he asked, peeking out from the bathroom while he was putting cleanser on his face. Ethan perked up from the bed, looking over at him. "Before we watch our one episode and go to bed, I want to give you something." 

"Like a present?" Ethan was immediately at his side as Tyler splashed water on his face. 

Tyler rubbed a towel over his fave and laughed softly. "Yeah, like a present. Because you've been such a good boy for me this week." Ethan's little wiggle of pride was adorable. 

"What is it?" he asked eagerly, dancing back over to the bed as Tyler went to the closet and rummaged around for the little box. 

"Close your eyes and you'll find out." 

Ethan stuck his hands over his eyes. 

"Okay. Three, two one, and...open your eyes!" 

Ethan stared at the pacifier for a moment, reaching out to take it reverently from Tyler's hand. "Mine?" he asked, perplexed. There was some kind of warm fuzzy feeling curling up in his chest and it made him want to wiggle around happily. 

"Yeah, buddy. Yours," Tyler encouraged. "You wanna give it a try?" he asked, rubbing at Ethan's shoulder. 

Shyly, Ethan took the paci from Tyler and stuck it in his mouth, sucking tentatively at it. 

"Do you like it?" Tyler asked nervously, and Ethan nodded, making grabby hands at Tyler. 

"Okay, buddy. Let's get settled and watch cartoons for a bit before bedtime, hmm?" He crawled into bed with Ethan beside him and they curled up like they'd been doing for the last few weeks. Tyler ran his hand through Ethan's soft blue hair, and not ten minutes into Ethan's episode of My Little Pony, he was asleep. Tyler didn't want to relocate him, so he just turned everything off and curled up against Ethan. 

"Daddy..." 

Tyler felt his stomach flutter with that warm fuzzy feeling. "G'night, baby boy." he kissed Ethan's head. 


	37. Chapter 37

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt fill: Amy babysitting her friend's one year old/baby, and Jealous little!Jack. Bonus points I believe were added if he throws a tantrum and is upset with her for not paying attention to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My KINGDOM for someone else to put fics into the Daddy Mark little Jack tag because I really want to read some, but it appears I'm the one that's written a lot of this. Someone write some stuff that I can read. (I mean, seriously. You don't have to, but...)

"I'm back!" 

Jack stuck his head out of the kitchen, where he was preparing himself a snack while Mark was upstairs recording. "Where'd you go?" he asked Amy, turning back to his apple slices. 

"Well," Amy pushed the stroller into the kitchen, setting the diaper bag into an empty kitchen chair. "One of my friends is going out with her husband for the first time since they had the baby, and they couldn't find a sitter in time, so..." She gestured to the baby, who cooed and continued trying to eat her own toes. "I'm babysitting tonight! I have her from five to nine, but she should go down for a nap soon, so I can hopefully get Chica brushed while she takes her nap." 

Jack popped an apple slice into his mouth and examined the baby curiously. "Oh. Alright, then." he picked up the plate and sat down at the table, scrolling idly through his phone while he ate. "What's her name?" he asked Amy a minute later, as she sat down and took the baby out of the stroller, cuddling her close. 

"Ava." She replied happily, nuzzling at the baby-soft skin as Ava twined her hands into her hair and tugged hard. "Agh! Oh, no, baby! No, no, no," She chorused as she untangled the tiny hands from her hair and quickly twirled it up on top of her head, using her thumb to shimmy the ponytail holder down her wrist and around the mass of hair. "There we go!" she nuzzled the baby's face and the baby giggled happily back, giving a radiant smile. 

Jack felt an unbidden twinge of jealousy, pushing to his feet and leaving his plate of apple slices on the table. "Gonna go shower." he mumbled, turning and heading up the stairs. 

Amy was much too distracted with the baby to really notice his change in mood, glad to for once have a baby she could easily carry around and cuddle up to. 

Jack passed Mark's recording room and sighed softly to himself. Once he'd gathered his clean clothes and shut himself in the bathroom to start the shower running, he leaned against the sink while the hot water warmed up, crossing his arms. "You're a grown ass adult. You absolutely don't need to be jealous of a one year old." he told himself, scowling at the wall. "Not one bit. It isn't appropriate." That, of course, didn't stop the feelings from being felt. Another, definitely tinier part of his brain argued that he did so have every right to be mad, because someone ELSE was hogging all of his Mommy's cuddles. It wasn't fair. Plus, he couldn't even cuddle up to Daddy and make it better because Daddy had grownup stuff to do! Jack scuffed his foot against the tiles angrily. Well, he thought as he stripped down and hopped underneath the calming spray of water, maybe Tyler would cuddle with him. 

It turned out Tyler couldn't cuddle either. He'd gone to Tyler's room after he'd dried off and shimmied himself into a soft dinosaur patterned kigurumi, padding down the hallway in search of cuddles. But when he'd entered Tyler's room, he wasn't there. Jack gave a grumpy whine and crossed his arms. Ethan, then. He stomped down the hall and peeked into Ethan's room. No Ethan. Jack gave a little growl. Where was everybody when he needed to be cuddled RIGHT NOW? He made his way grumpily down to his own room, grabbing his blankie off the bed and snuggling into the cozy fabric, rubbing it against his face with another whine. Not fair. He wanted cuddles. Fine. He could be a big boy! Jack flung his blankie aside, the object flying across the room and landing on the edge of the crib haphazardly. Then he stood up and stomped towards the staircase. 

Once he'd navigated the stairs, he found himself in the hallway, listening to what was going on in the other room. The TV was playing one of Ethan's episodes of My Little Pony. Jack hovered near the doorway and stuck his head in slightly. Mommy was still playing with the other baby, cooing at her and giving her the warm-soft look she always gave Jack right before bedtime. He bristled. 

"Aw, pumpkin, you're just the cutest thing!" Amy laughed, raising the baby up and nuzzling their noses together. 

That did it. Jack hurried into the room, stopping right in front of her and crossing his arms. Amy didn't look up. Jack stomped his foot angrily. "No!" he cried, lip quivering. 

Amy looked up curiously, even little Ava was intrigued by Jack's outburst. "Jack. You know we don't yell inside." Amy told him sternly. 

Jack's eyes filled with angry jealous tears. "No," he whispered, turning tail and fleeing, unable to keep looking at the way she was cradling the baby. Not thinking, he tore up the stairs and into Mark's recording studio, cramming himself under the desk. 

"What the hell? Jack? Whoa, hey, what's wrong?" Mark was only angry for a second that Jack had violated their 'don't come into the office until the door is open' rule. Jack was clearly upset, and his caregiver instinct trumped any anger he had that Jack had messed up a moment of his video. He could edit it out. Besides, he'd been standing in one spot for near on an hour and a half and he probably needed a small break anyway. Mark took off his headphones and set them on the desk, leaning down to peek underneath. "Jack? You wanna come on outta there for me?" He grunted softly as he sank to his knees and then sat down carefully, keeping his lap open as an invitation. 

Jack whined loudly and reached out, inching forward until he was close enough that Mark could grab him and pull him into his lap. "Dada." he keened softly, holding on tightly. 

Mark was perplexed. "What, baby?" he asked, frowning as he held Jack close. "What's wrong? Why did you come in here looking so upset?" he tried to find out anything he could, though he knew that he probably wouldn't get much. 

Jack just gave a pitiful moan. "Okay, alright. It looks like Daddy's done recording for the day," he decided, subtly checking to see whether Jack was in a diaper before he picked him up. He wasn't. That was the first thing Mark was going to do, he decided, standing up and holding Jack as he turned off all his equipment. That done, he carried him down to his bedroom and got his boy up onto the changing table. "We're gonna put you in a nice clean diaper, and then we're going to take you downstairs and get you something nice to eat, hmm?" Jack started to cry fitfully as Mark changed him, which only made him more perplexed. "What's the matter? I really wish you'd tell me what's the matter, Jackabug, I hate seeing you so upset." he said matter of factly as he zipped him back into his pajamas. Jack whined and whimpered as Mark picked him up, heading downstairs carefully, so he didn't overbalance and drop his lanky cargo. 

"Okay, time for a nice bottle," Mark decided, mixing one up one handed before carting Jack into the living room. 

"Oh. So  _that's_ what this is about." he stopped short, seeing Amy holding the sleeping baby. "Did he come down earlier?" 

"Yep." she murmured. "He did, and then I'm assuming he went up for you right after that." 

"That he did," Mark began, sitting down on in one of the chairs and starting to feed Jack. "I guess he was just jealous." 

"I'd say so," Amy laughed softly, putting the baby down in the portable crib she'd snapped together. "But I think things have been smoothed over now." she murmured, walking over to the two of them and pushing Jack's bangs back from his forehead. "Right, baby? Now you know not to get mad at other babies for sharing Mommy's love." 


End file.
